


Episode 2-11 - "Under Fire"

by stgjr



Series: Undiscovered Frontier Season 2 - "Whispers of Destiny" [11]
Category: Babylon 5, Mass Effect, Original Work, Star Trek
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-12 02:47:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 35,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11152635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: Leo faces tough decisions while working in a field hospital under Nazi attack.





	1. Chapter 1

**Teaser**  
  
_Ship's Log: ASV Aurora; 17 July 2642 AST. Captain Robert Dale recording. We are currently in orbit of the major colony world New Brittany, to provide medical support and protection to the newly-liberated colony. New Brittany was the site of the Reich's concentration camps and prisoner of war facilities in this sector. The need for medical assistance to the victims our forces liberated in these camps has necessitated that Doctor Gillam and most of his physicians beam down to the various hospitals to assist._  
  
  
Robert was halfway through the day's paperwork when the tone sounded at his door. "Come in," he said.  
  
As he expected, Julia stepped in. She had no digital reader for him this time. Her face was drawn and pale. Robert could sense why even before he asked, "What did you see?"  
  
Julia nearly dropped into the seat in front of him. "More of the same. Just seeing those prisoners down there, how much they've suffered, what the Nazis did to them…" Julia clenched her fists. "We read about these things in school, but I never thought I'd see it in person like that."  
  
"It's not pretty," Robert sighed in agreement. "And every hour, more of the weakest of them die unless we get them the attention they need. I'm hoping Leo and the others can make a dent in that." The look on his face spoke of his quiet frustration and the idea that, if things had been different, they could have gotten to this planet earlier, to the camp earlier, and ended the suffering without more deaths.  
  
"We both know he'll try." Julia clearly had a desire to change the subject. That subject change was one Robert expected. "So… you're single again."  
  
"I'm single again," Robert said. "And probably will be for the foreseeable future."  
  
"I'm sorry it didn't work out in the end."  
  
"So am I." Deciding turnabout was fair play, he gave Julia his best, innocent look. "So, have you accepted Admiral Maran's offer?"  
  
The look on Julia's face said she didn't buy a word of that. "With all of the people asking about that, it almost feels like you _want_ me to leave."  
  
"No, I don't." Robert smiled at her. "What I want is for you to be happy, and to get the recognition you deserve. Taking command of the _Enterprise_ when she's ready? You'd instantly have the most prestigious command in the fleet."  
  
"And what about you and the others?", Julia asked.  
  
"We would make do." Robert leaned forward in his chair. "We knew this could happen one day. We wouldn't get to serve together forever."  
  
"Yeah." Julia nodded. "I know."  
  
"And I think I knew that Angel and I were… not going to work out," Robert admitted. "In the end, we never do." He sighed. "I think it… I think we just don't have the long-term compatibility we always hope to get. In the end, maybe it's for the best."  
  
"Well, you know where I am if you need to talk," Julia said. "I'd better get back to the bridge."  
  
"I'll be along shortly," Robert promised.  
  
  
  
  
Field Hospital Charlie had been established beside what had been the Retzoff KZ. It was predominantly a labor camp where the Reich imprisoned the sector's political dissidents or those who were in the sector "illegally": having violated the Reich's rigorous controls of which ethnic groups and nationalities were permitted to dwell in which sectors.  
  
Given the number of war refugees that had fled the combat zones, this figure had grown quite high in the months leading up to Alliance forces taking New Brittany.  
  
Although New Brittany was technically under the authority of the nominally-independent National Republic of Brittany back on Earth, they were still part of the Reich as a subordinated state, and they had been compelled to let the Reich build the camp on their soil. Indeed, near their planetary capital of New Rennes.  
  
Naturally, once the war began, the SS had eventually moved in further and opened a prisoner-of-war camp beside the rapidly-expanding labor camp, and in many cases had relegated the prisoners therein to said camp.  
  
Now Field Hospital Charlie tended to the former prisoners of both facilities in addition to combat casualties. It was already full to capacity and its medical staff undermanned to deal with all of the cases of malnutrition and abuse.  
  
Leo looked over the occupants of one ward. Virtually all were down to living skeletons. It was a sight familiar to any medical officer involved in the war and, for him, it would never lose its power. These people were the living embodiment of everything that was cruel and evil about the Reich and the ideology it espoused.  
  
_The key word there is 'living'_ , Leo thought. _There are even more dead embodiments than I could ever count_.  
  
Nasri stepped up behind him. "We've secured the supplies. Doctor Singh is already up to her elbows in cases in the trauma unit."  
  
"While here…" Leo's mouth was dry. "God, Nasri… look at this. How can people live like…" He stopped and gave her a sad look. Given what she had lived through in Darfur, he felt like he had just stuck his finger into an old wound. "Sorry."  
  
Nasri smiled sympathetically. "It is fine, Doctor. That is your compassion showing."  
  
"Doctor Gillam?"  
  
The female voice was one Leo had heard before. He showed some surprise when he turned his head and faced another doctor already making rounds in the ward. Like his own uniform, her uniform was primarily black, with blue on the shoulders, but while his lab coat was white hers was the same blue as her uniform's shoulder area. She was middle-aged, but her hair was still completely red without a tinge of gray.  
  
Leo nodded. "Doctor Crusher. I wasn't aware you were here."  
  
Doctor Beverly Crusher, the former Chief Medical Officer of the destroyed Federation _Starship Enterprise_ , nodded. "Yes, well, I was initially assigned by Doctor K'lei'tana to Hospital Bravo, but there was a change in the rosters." Crusher stepped up to him and offered her hand, which he shook. "It's good to see you, Doctor Gillam. We need every doctor we can get."  
  
"I'm happy to help," Leo assured her. "How about I get one row?"  
  
"You do that, and I think we'll be done in no time," Crusher answered, showing a small, relieved grin.  
  
  
  
  
Like any local resident in similar straits, Andre Faqin had gone to the new occupiers to find work. This was a choice fraught with danger. Even if it meant extra money that could buy food beyond bland replicator rations, or which might one day get a ticket off the planet and out of the war zone, every New Breton who took even the slightest job with the occupation force would face the wrath of the Nazi Reich should the planet fall back under their control. It was, all things considered, quite the deterrent.  
  
Faqin, however, had his own insurance against that possibility.  
  
After a day of sweeping floors and bringing food to decrepit camp survivors, Faqin returned home from Field Hospital Charlie. His home, such as it was, was a rented basement apartment in the urban areas of the capital. He went into his own subbasement in his unit and went to the corner. The floorboards pried away easily where he had left the loosened nook. Underneath was the shielded box he desired. He opened it and reached inside.  
  
The communication set had a portable power source. It was powerful enough to open a secured, encrypted channel through a transmitter in the city, and from there to where it was needed to go. Faqin did that just now.  
  
He waited, patiently, until his screen showed as room, although with the chair in the picture turned away from the screen the only face Faqin could see was that on the large portrait of the First _Führer_ behind it. " _You risk much opening such a channel_ ," the man in the chair warned in German.  
  
"I may have seen one of those you said you were seeking." Faqin removed a data chip from the small phone unit he had with him and placed it in his transmitter.  
  
The man accessed another device in his hand and looked over the arriving photographs. Faqin could tell his hidden elation from the tremor in his voice. " _They are at New Brittany, then?_ "  
  
"I don't know," Faqin admitted. "But that man is. And I know I heard his ship was still in orbit."  
  
" _Well… you have done well, agent. You will be well-rewarded when the Reich reclaims your world. Maintain a constant watch and report to me any changes._ "  
  
"Then… you are confident you are returning?"  
  
The man turned in his chair and smiled, which was not something Faqin was used to seeing on the face of a man like _Standartenführer_ Erik Fassbinder. " _Oh, yes_ ," cooed the SS officer. " _With the_ Aurora _and her crew present, I can promise you we will be returning to New Brittany very soon indeed…_ "  
  
  


**Undiscovered Frontier  
_"Under Fire"_**

  
  
  
With his bridge watch done for the day, and with it most of his paperwork, Robert went to his other daily obligation.  
  
Which is why he was holding a wooden blade and waiting patiently for Lieutenant Lucy Lucero to strike at him with her own.  
  
Fencing had never been his thing. But he knew enough of it to know that fencing involved reading your opponent's body language and trying to guess when and where their strikes would land.  
  
This was even more elaborate than that. He and Lucy had what the the Gersallians called "connected _swevyra_ ". He preferred the term "life force" even if it wasn't entirely accurate to cover what the Gersallian term meant. It was one thing to say someone had life in them, but the Gersallian concept of the _swevyra_ , of life bound to the other life of Creation and the Universe as a whole in a great "Flow of Life", went to a whole different level.  
  
Because of this particular talent, Robert and Lucy could do… things. They could manipulate the energy they felt within themselves to move things with their will, to sense the thoughts of others, to move faster and hit harder than their muscle mass would normally permit, it even permitted instinctive understanding of things like, oh, where a bad guy was about to shoot, allowing them to evade or deflect such attacks. Robert thought of it as "the ability to go into a gunfight with a sword and win". And it took training to perfect.  
  
And sacrificing a working romantic relationship, as it turned out.  
  
When Lucy struck Robert was already moving into a defensive block position. He caught her blow with his wooden blade. The next swipe also resulted in the clack of a wood-on-wood collision, as did the next. After a fourth and final failed attempt to overcome Robert's defense, Lucy backed off. It was his turn.  
  
After several seconds he started to move. First he tried to switch from a high strike to a low to catch Lucy off-balance, but she had her weapon ready for that. A second go, high, was stopped. And a third.  
  
For the fourth blow, Robert decided to mix things up. After drawing Lucy's attention with a cut at her waist, Robert pulled at the energy within him and used it to push forward. Immediately he…  
  
…lost his balance as Lucy, sensing the move, broke off contact and left him to push with force against nothing. Before he could recover she struck his blade with hers, rotated the weapon and wrenched his from his hand, and promptly knocked him to the floor with a burst of energy.  
  
All in less than five seconds.  
  
"Robert Dale, Human pin cushion, loses again," he sighed while sprawled on the floor.  
  
"You _are_ improving," Lucy assured him. She looked to her side. "Don't you agree?"  
  
Commander Meridina nodded. "Yes." She gave Robert a direct look. The Gersallian woman's blue eyes glittered with quiet pride. She had given up much to continue training them; to see Robert and Lucy continuing to improve was therefore something she could take real joy in.  
  
Robert had always been struck by how alike Gersallians were to Humans. Sure, on the inside Gersallian organs were laid out differently, but externally, they looked just like Humans. Skin, hair, even a bit of the smell, all looked like just Human equivalents. "I think you're both well ahead of me," he said. "Although I can't complain too much. I was able to beat Lincoln Osis even with my abilities being so weak compared to yours."  
  
"That is a good attitude to take, Robert," Meridina agreed. "But you must have recognized the potential strengths of your _swevyra_ off the battlefield?"  
  
"You mean the freakly dreams and the future-sensing."  
  
"Indeed. Certainly you have felt a change in them."  
  
He had. He still had the nightmares of course, and how they might be visions of possible futures, but now they were less-frequent. He was getting better rest than he had before. And sometimes the dreams were… happier.  
  
Dreams of his family. Dreams of _a_ family, flowing waves of golden-colored grain on some quiet world, children with his green eyes and Angel's dark hair and brown skin running and giggling and playing in those golden waves.  
  
Although that last one had only been a few times. And it was clear that wouldn't be coming about now.  
  
But above all were the dreams that wound up with the shadowy figure of a woman and those two confusing, vexing words. " _Bad Wolf_." _What did it mean?_  
  
"I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Meridina," Robert said. "I've been hearing these two words in my dreams. 'Bad Wolf'. I'm not sure what they mean. Something about a choice."  
  
"It is best not to dwell too strongly on such a matter. Whatever your connection to Creation is telling you, you must also recall you are in the present, and the present has its own matters to attend to." Meridina stepped up and placed a sympathetic hand on his arm. "You will figure this out, Robert. In due time. For now, though, we should continue to train and refine your control and connection."  
  
Robert nodded. "I don't have much else to do as it is. What do you have for us next."  
  
From the faint grin on her face, Robert knew he wouldn't like the answer. _Yay, more standing on my hands trying to levitate things…_  
  
  
  
  
Once their work in the ward was done, Leo joined Doctor Crusher in heading for the hospital mess. "I'm surprised to see you here, Doctor," Leo said to her. "Not that I'm complaining. Our medical services are overstretched by the war as it is."  
  
"So I've heard." Crusher nodded. "And since I was waiting for a new posting, I joined Admiral McCoy's volunteer detachment."  
  
"He's quite the character, isn't he?"  
  
Crusher looked at Leo. "You've met him?"  
  
"I did," Leo admitted. "And he's every bit the legend that Scotty promised he'd be."  
  
Crusher answered that with a grin. "And what about you? I read your paper on dealing with terminal stage leukemia patients."  
  
Leo felt a surge of pain in his heart. He remembered a smiling preteen boy who should have had the rest of his life ahead of him. "I hope it will be of use to other physicians in saving lives. The information came at a high price. Too high."  
  
"The Joshua Marik case." Crusher took his arm. "Doctor, I'm not sure any of us could have saved his life. HIs condition was too advanced."  
  
"You're probably right." Leo nodded. He couldn't keep the haunted look off his face. "But it doesn't change how I feel. That boy had such a future, if only we'd had more time…"  
  
"It's not easy losing a patient like that," Crusher agreed.  
  
The conversation quieted once they entered the mess. Federation-style replicators were set up on one wall while an older-style mess line was on the other, serving fresh non-replicated food. Leo could see a diversity of species and organizations represented in the medical suits and uniforms of the doctors, surgeons, and nurses present. He recognized the medical jumpsuits of personnel from M4P2, Minbari healer robes, Earth Alliance medical jumpsuits from E5B1, Alliance medical uniforms, and Starfleet ones as well. There was even a Klingon physician in one corner, scowling at a plate, while a group of physicians in ComStar robes were at another table discussing the day's work. "It looks like every medical organization in the known Multiverse is pitching in," Leo observed.  
  
"I know. Sometimes it feels like I'm at a medical symposium more than a field hospital." Crusher went over to the replicator. She tapped the key to activate it and said, "Crusher 3."  
  
The system responded and a tray materialized. The plate on it contained with a chicken sandwich sided by a bowl of salad and a glass of what looked like grape or cranberry juice.  
  
Leo tapped the key next. "Computer, cold turkey sandwich, lettuce and onions included, and a side of french-cut fried potatoes."  
  
The replicator quickly provided the specified meal.  
  
"Adding some starch to your diet?" Crusher asked as they walked into the tables.  
  
"For lunch, anyway," Leo said. "Tonight I'll probably see about a good salad before I beam back up to the _Aurora_."  
  
They found one table with a few occupants. Leo was surprised to recognize one. "Doctor Franklin?"  
  
"Doctor Gillam." Doctor Stephen Franklin extended his hand over his plate, now mostly finished. Leo accepted it. "I heard your ship was coming with new supplies." Franklin had a bowl of what looked like a beef soup in front of him. His suit was recognizable as the standard pale blue medical coats used in the Earth Alliance.  
  
"We got here this morning." Leo gave him a questioning look. "What is the Earth Alliance Director of Xenobiological Research doing in a field hospital on the front?"  
  
"I'm on an inspection tour," Franklin said. "There are drawbacks to being the least senior among the various medical directors back at Bethesda Dome. Instead of drawing straws it was easier to rush through the paperwork assigning the entire thing to me." A bemused smirk appeared on Franklin's face. "But it's given me a chance to study some of the new species that Multiversal contact has opened up. So I probably can't complain too much."  
  
"I'm not sure I could stand going back to Starfleet Medical," Crusher said.  
  
"Tell me about it. Half the reason I came out here was to get away from the office politics," said another, deeper voice. The woman now sitting across from Crusher and beside Franklin was also in a Starfleet medical uniform, with curly blond hair graying softly at the temples. She seemed a little older than Crusher, further into middle-age, with some wrinkling on her face. "Doctor…" She extended a hand across the table toward Leo. "...Gillam, was it? As in Doctor Leonard Gillam of the _Aurora_?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Doctor Katherine Pulaski, Starfleet Medical," the woman replied. "Formerly on the _Repulse_." She nodded to Crusher. "I even served on the _Enterprise_ for a year, while Doctor Crusher was serving her sentence at Starfleet Medical."  
  
Leo recognized the name. "I remember reading your paper on the health challenges on the Reymond Colony. The parasitical fungus that kept infecting the colonists. I thought your solution was brilliant."  
  
"Thank you, Doctor Gillam. I rather enjoyed the paper you wrote on extracting those parasites in the R4A1 universe. That was a risky surgery."  
  
"It wasn't the operating theater I had in mind, true."  
  
"I still think some of you people are spoiled for space." Another woman, with an English accent, spoke up from beside Pulaski. Her hair, neck-length if shorter than Crusher's, was gray, and she had green eyes. She was in a Systems Alliance jumpsuit, Navy-issued. "Doctor Karin Chakwas," she said by way of introduction, extending a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Doctor Gillam."  
  
"The same." Leo accepted Chawkas' hand for a quick handshake before he settled into his seat. "A lot of medical talent here today. And all necessary."  
  
"Very," Franklin agreed. "Part of my job here is to reassure Earthdome that the requested medical supplies are necessary. Once they see the recordings I have…"  
  
"I never thought I would see something like this outside of a holodeck recreation," Crusher admitted. "These cases, and the casual brutality…"  
  
"There's a reason most of our cultures remember this movement, even after centuries." Chakwas picked at a pasta salad. "We lost two more in the Intensive Care ward this morning. I'm frankly surprised we've saved as many as we have."  
  
Crusher's face and the brief lowering of her eyes showed how she took that news. "We've got enough of our moderate cases stabilized that we're sending them off-world today."  
  
"Speaking of leaving…" Pulaski looked to the wall and a timer. "I'm beaming up to the _Jonas Salk_ in a couple of hours, so I need to brief my replacement."  
  
Crusher looked at Pulaski and asked, "Anyone we know?"  
  
"That new Asari doctor that arrived yesterday," Pulaski replied. "T'Perro."  
  
"Doctor Lexi T'Perro," Franklin clarified. "I interviewed her last night. Brilliant doctor and a fellow xenobiologist." He smirked. "From the other side of the equation, of course."  
  
"An Asari doctor, huh." Leo raised his eyebrows. "Given how old the Asari can get, she could have more doctorates and experience than the rest of us put together."  
  
"She does. Her file puts her age, in Human years, at about 273, give or take a year," Franklin answered.  
  
"Where are you off to?" Chakwas asked Pulaski  
  
"I'm due on New Austria and Starfleet Medical's main hospital in this universe. Admiral McCoy's asking me to relieve Doctor T'Pela so she can attend to a family affair on Vulcan."  
  
"You'll be missed," Chakwas said. "Hopefully we can catch up to each other soon and share a drink. Have you ever tried Serrice Ice Brandy?"  
  
"No, I have not." Pulaski grinned. "Sounds interesting."  
  
"And worth every credit."  
  
The others gave their goodbyes to Pulaski as she left, emptied food plate and tray in hand. "I think it's only going to get worse as we get closer to Earth in this Universe," Leo said.  
  
"Yeah." Franklin's expression went blank as he let that thought sink in. "Hopefully the war won't last much longer."  
  
"Half of the known Multiverse is either fighting the Reich or helping the Coalition fight them." Crusher took a quick bite and, after a couple of seconds of chewing, swallowed it. "They can't hold out against that kind of opposition, can they?"  
  
"When you've got fanatics like that SS man Fassbinder around?" Leo shook his head. "They'll fight as long as they have means."  
  
"It sounds like you've learned that the hard way."  
  
"We did. Fassbinder was the SS officer on Captain Lamper's cruiser during our first contact." Leo frowned. "And he oversaw the mission at Gamma Piratus. He nearly killed some of my friends and colleagues. As much as it sounds inappropriate to say as a physician…" Leo's expression darkened. "...I'm thankful he's no longer among the living."  
  
"Strong words," Chakwas said. "But I can see they're earned."  
  
Leo nodded in response. It was the only reaction he could properly give.  
  
  
  
  
The planet Himmlerwelt was one of the first thirty planets settled by the Reich. From the beginning the planet had been selected to be the preserve of the _Schutzstaffel_. Only SS members and their families were permitted to own land on the planet, and only pure Aryan-blooded Germans were permitted to live and work on the world. This had kept the planet from getting the population of other colony worlds settled in the same timeframe, as even today it had a population of only a hundred million spread out across the world.  
  
This suited the SS, of course. This was their center of power outside of Germany itself. The planet's economy was entirely geared toward providing for the needs of the SS across the entire, beleaguered interstellar empire that Hitler's Thousand Year Reich had been building for over four centuries. The _Wehrmacht_ had nothing like it, and if the SS had their way, the regular national forces would never accomplish such a thing.  
  
For _Standartenführer_ Erik Fassbinder, it was his homeworld, physically and spiritually. It was natural that he had been called back to Himmlerwelt to recover from his grievous injury suffered in the system the Alliance called Gamma Piratus. On this world he was able to recuperate.  
  
And more importantly, he was able to _plan_.  
  
With practiced and firm steps, Fassbinder stepped into the office of _Oberst-Gruppenführer_ Hans Kranefuss and raised his arm in salute. " _Heil Sauckel!_ ", he declared.  
  
" _Heil der Führer_." Kranefuss returned the salute. The senior officer's head of blond hair had begun to gray at the temples, with lines forming on his face from age and work. His uniform was, as Fassbinder thought it should, immaculate and well-kept. He had the wide and strong shoulders that Fassbinder enjoyed as well, the common fruits of the SS' gene-engineering programs to enhance their bloodlines and widen the gulf of superiority they enjoyed over others.  
  
Kranefuss had an office fit for his high rank in the organization, with medals and commendations displayed on the walls, holos of family going down to a newborn great-grandchild, and the fine furnishings one would expect for the Head of Special Operations. Behind Kranefuss an open window showed the marble spires arrayed around the _Heinrich-Himmler-Platz_ and the wide avenues of the _Hitlerstraße_.  
  
"How is your shoulder, _Standartenführer_?", Kranefuss asked.  
  
"It has healed, sir," Fassbinder insisted. "I am ready to return to the field. Indeed, I already have a proposal…"  
  
"So I have heard." Kranefuss eyed him warily. He had clearly read Fassbinder's report made this morning. "I admit I am concerned. Eicke's obsession with that vessel led him to his downfall. Now you too seem to place great stock with the _Aurora_. We have already diverted material to this chase..."  
  
"We came close to catching them in the trap. Had the _Heydrich_ and her battlegroup arrived just minutes earlier…"  
  
"I am aware." Kranefuss nodded. "And I am aware of the real gains to be had if we were to capture the vessel or cause its destruction. The morale loss to our enemies would be noticeable. And the gains to be had from interrogating the command crew are well worth a dedicated effort. But you must understand my concern for your motives. The Reich cannot afford for you to turn this into a personal vendetta, Fassbinder. Eicke forgot his duty, and it destroyed him."  
  
"If I may, _Oberst-Gruppenführer_ , I am not Eicke," Fassbinder insisted. "Though I sympathize with his anger at being denied his prize. I have no such motives. I wish for the ship and the crew to be our prisoners, nothing more or less. Even just one or two taken could be of great advantage."  
  
Kranefuss considered that. "The _Raumkriegsmarine_ is already gathered for a counter-attack in that sector, but they intend to bypass New Brittany entirely. Are you certain you can bring enough force to secure the world?"  
  
"Give me ten divisions and the _Schirach_ Battle Group, _Oberst-Gruppenführer_. We can be at New Brittany behind the counter-offensive."  
  
It was clear Kranefuss was still wavering. But he had to admit the prospects seemed good. The counterattack of the naval elements would draw off ships and forces from the planet. Reclaiming New Brittany was a prize worthy of this thought even without issue of the _Aurora_. So it was that after nearly ten seconds of consideration Kranefuss nodded. "I will send the orders. Attack only if the RKM's offensive is succeeding."  
  
" _Jawohl_." Fassbinder nodded. "You will have no cause to regret this choice."  
  
"See that I do not," was Kranefuss' reply. "You are dismissed."  
  
Fassbinder stepped out of the office. The grin on his face widened. Although he would lack the rank to actually command the _Schirach_ or the force being sent, with Kranefuss' orders in hand he could direct their efforts.  
  
Those were his thoughts in the minutes that passed from the time he stepped out of Kranefuss' office to stepping into a lift. Once inside his hand reached into his pocket. When it came out, a 25 _Reichpfenning_ coin was in his palm. He looked over the silver-sheened disc. The face side bore the visage of _Führer_ Joachim Seickert, the seventh _Führer,_ who had overseen the economic plans that made the conquest of the United States possible. The tail side displayed the courtyard of Hitler's Victory Memorial, with the monuments that incorporated the broken remnants of the statues from Trafalgar Square.  
  
He held his palm up to his eyes and focused on the coin. He reached within himself and felt a surge of spiritual strength, the strength to dominate, to control, to rule, as was his birthright.  
  
The coin lifted from his palm. It began to rotate in mid-air while sweat appeared on the brow of the SS officer.  
  
Content in his test, Fassbinder put the coin away just as the lift doors opened. He gave a customary " _Sieg Heil_ " to the two junior officers that they properly returned. And he walked on.  
  
He had an attack to plan.  
  
  
  
  
It had been a rough couple of days for Leo.  
  
In those two days, he'd seen just about every kind of case he had never wanted to see in his career. It had become clear why Field Hospital Charlie had such a concentration of medical know-how given the quantity and difficulty of cases, not to mention the sheer number of them.  
  
The need to care for the survivors of the planet's concentration and POW camps were further complicated by the situation for New Brittany's population. The Reich had essentially taken over the planet's economy and had ruthlessly seized the majority of the planet's food production to divert to the military and to German-inhabited colony worlds. The result was sad and utterly predictable. As a result, malnutrition and starvation were sending more people to the Hospital's remaining beds while occupation authorities struggled to get food supplies to needed levels.  
  
Today Leo was in the most grueling ward of them all.  
  
The Child Ward.  
  
The KZ camps had child barracks, and the Nazis had proven no better at handling children than adults. All around Leo were sick, weak little stick figures passing for living children, struck by malnutrition and reduced to skin and bones in many cases.  
  
Some of the children could barely get out of bed. Leo was busy with the sickest cases. Diseases, medical conditions aggravated by abuse, the abuse itself…  
  
He looked down at a little boy who looked no older than six. Tears were streaming down the sobbing boy's face, gaunt and pale as it was. "I want my mummy!" The boy's accent was distinctly English.  
  
"Well, I can look and see if she's here," Leo proposed. "I'll need a name."  
  
"Her name is Mummy."  
  
Leo smiled gently. "Well, I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I need you to tell me where it hurts."  
  
His examination confirmed the various maladies that the boy's battered little body was suffering from, including an unhealed broken rib from getting kicked by an SS guard. Leo gave him what medications he could, made sure the child's next meal was scheduled to include the nutrients he most needed, and walked on. Nasri kept step behind him. "Where did all of these children come from?", Leo muttered. "Christ…"  
  
"The records say that the Reich imprisoned war refugees in the camps as well," Nasri replied. "If they come from nationalities not allowed in this sector." She reached for his arm. "Doctor, are you okay?"  
  
Leo looked at her and couldn't keep the pain from his face. These were children. Children who should have been spared the horrors of what Humanity could do to itself. Instead they had been forced to endure it.  
  
But what was even worse was his thought on the last time he'd had a child-patient. Whenever he looked into these emaciated little faces… he kept seeing the face of another young boy, in a body wracked by terminal leukemia. The boy he could not save.  
  
Nasri's expression softened to one of sympathy. "I should have asked them not to send you here."  
  
"It's fine. Someone has to do it." Leo shook his head. "And I was going to have to care for children again some time." He sighed. "I guess I should have remembered the lollipops."  
  
Nasri smiled at that. "I think the others might have disapproved. Given the nutritional problems."  
  
"Maybe." Leo looked around the ward. "But given all of the misery here… sometimes you have to accept that happiness is a category of health on its own."  
  
"Well, perhaps we shall have to go replicate some…"  
  
Before any more could be said, a loud tone took their attention. They looked toward one of the beds in another line and ran toward it.  
  
Before they could get there, a Minbari was already at the bed checking vitals. "She is going into shock," the Minbari woman announced.  
  
"Let's get her elevated." Leo helped do this task while scan results were compiled. "Anything?"  
  
"I don't know where to begin." Nasri looked over the girl. She looked to be around twelve, which meant she could be as old as fourteen, with a pale coloration that was just tinted enough that Leo suspected she was at least partly non-Caucasian. "Multiple organ problems, injuries…"  
  
"Okay, we need…"  
  
  
  
  
Two hours later Leo was done with the emergency case and the rounds in the Child Ward. Crusher and the Asari doctor, T'Perro, had taken over the girl's care after Leo and the Minbari, Kannel, had stabilized her condition, and the teenager or near-teen was now in Intensive Care. Efforts were being made to determine if her family was among the living.  
  
He sat quietly in the mess hall with a mostly-uneaten plate of salad in front of him, joined by a cold half-finished bowl of sausage stew.  
  
The maker of that stew now sat across from him. Hargert noticed Leo's failure to fully take his meal. "It is terrible here," Hargert agreed.  
  
Leo nodded. As he got a good look at the _Aurora_ crew lounge's cook and steward, he could see the dark circles under his eyes. The lines and wrinkles on his face were deeper than usual and betrayed the fatigue in the old man. "You should take a break," Leo said. "You look like you're running yourself ragged."  
  
"My staff and I have been cooking for the last fifty-two hours," Hargert confessed. "Food for the medical staff and for the patients here. Especially the children."  
  
"It's what they need," Leo agreed. He sighed. Hargert had clearly not intended it, but he was making Leo feel incredibly guilty. "And I guess I should respect your efforts by finishing what you worked so hard to make."  
  
"I understand if this work has cost you your appetite," Hargert said. "But it's not just that, is it?"  
  
Leo sighed and shook his head. "No," he admitted. "Seeing the children makes me think of Joshua Marik."  
  
"Of course." Hargert nodded. "That is a wound you will always carry."  
  
"Tell me about it." Leo put a spoonful of cool sausage stew into his mouth. The lack of warmth made the taste less-appetizing than usual, but it wasn't bad by any standard, and he savored the taste a little before swallowing. "I've seen a lot of things out here that I know will always haunt me."  
  
"Yes." Hargert resumed eating his own meal.  
  
Given the time that flashed on his omnitool, Leo did the same. He had another set of rounds due soon. He didn't want to be making them with a grumbling stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo faces tough decisions while working in a field hospital under Nazi attack.

Robert and Julia were on the bridge when notification came of a ship locking onto their drive. "Put them on, Lieutenant," Robert said to Jupap, the Alakin ops officer manning that station.  
  
The holo-viewscreen activated and showed orbital space ahead. A vortex of green energy formed ahead of them. The vessel that came out was of Federation design, a large saucer with a drive section, nacelles slung below said section, and a triangular pod section above the saucer. Unlike the _Galaxy_ -class ships this vessel, clearly of similar design, was compact, with few empty spaces within the dimensions of the ship.  
  
Ensign al-Rashad spoke up at the Sensors/Science station. "The vessel is a Starfleet _Nebula_ -class starship. Identification code reads her as _Starship Lexington_."  
  
"We are being hailed."  
  
Robert nodded. "Put them on."  
  
Initially the screen was taken up by a man of African complexion. " _This is Captain Gilaad Ben Zoma, commanding the Federation_ Starship Lexington." Robert thought there was a hint of Hebrew in the incoming captain's accent.  
  
"Captain Robert Dale, Alliance _Starship Aurora_ ," Robert answered. "We were informed a Federation ship would be jumping in. I'm a little surprised myself. The front is just a few parsecs away and I've never heard of Federation ships coming this far into the liberated systems."  
  
Ben Zoma nodded. " _President Jaresh-Inyo personally authorized this mission on behalf of Starfleet Medical. We're carrying an expert to provide a technical solution to the need for medical personnel here._ " Ben Zoma nodded to someone off-screen.  
  
The man who stepped into the field beside Ben Zoma was a Caucasian man, with a balding head and the look of a middle-aged man. He had the gold of engineering and operations on the shoulders of his Starfleet uniform and, peculiarly, no rank insignia pips. " _This is Doctor Lewis Zimmerman. I am the Director of Holographic Imaging and Programming for Starfleet's Jupiter Station. With the permission of Starfleet Medical and your Alliance's Health and Medical Review Office, I'm here to install hardware for emergency medical holograms in the field hospitals. Now, I'll need your best technical personnel to report to my command._ "  
  
Robert and Julia exchanged looks. "I wasn't made aware of this, Doctor…"  
  
" _I'm sure you'll find the order was transmitted this morning, after I finished speaking with Health Secretary Keneerk_ ," Zimmerman said, interrupting Robert with maximum bluntness. " _In the meantime, Captain, I am on a tight schedule and can't be delayed._ "  
  
Julia was already looking at the log of command-level messages at her station. She highlighted one and read it. Robert knew what it likely said even before she turned to him and breathed a sigh. "It's here," she said. "Right from Admiral Maran."  
  
"Right." Robert nodded. "Well, I'll have my Engineering and Operations staff put together a team to join you."  
  
" _Excellent. I expect to see them when I beam down in an hour. Zimmerman out_."  
  
The look on Ben Zoma's face was almost apologetic after Zimmerman stepped out of the viewer's range. " _I'll have my people inform you when Doctor Zimmerman and his current team transport down. Which of your hospitals could use the help first?_ "  
  
"Field Hospital Charlie," Julia said. "They have the highest patient load."  
  
" _Relay the coordinates and I'll send down additional supplies as well_ ," Ben Zoma said. " _I'm going to keep my ship at Yellow Alert for the duration of our time here_."  
  
"I don't blame you," Robert said. "We're at our highest non-combat alert as well. And I doubt Nazi warships will be picky about targets if they show up."  
  
" _I didn't think so._ Lexington _out._ " Ben Zoma's face disappeared from the screen.  
  
Robert sat in his chair and keyed the intercom. "Jarod, Scotty, you've got an hour to put together a technical team to beam down and work with some Federation muckety-muck."  
  
" _I'll put together some people and beam down with them_ ," Jarod volunteered.  
  
" _Aye, I'll have Tom set it up_."  
  
"Don't forget, everyone goes down with sidearms and field action uniforms," Julia said. "We're close enough to the front that I don't want anyone taking any chances."  
  
Jarod answered, " _I'll pass it on_."  
  
When the connection cut Robert gave Julia a bemused look. "And you wonder why they call you a mother hen. Are you going to be this way to your crew when you become a captain?"  
  
That won him a playful glare.  
  
  
  
  
Night was falling outside of Field Hospital Charlie. Only a thin sliver of light remained on the western horizon, obscured toward the southwest by a distant chain of mountains. Within the Hospital lights came on, bright white in their quality, while the ongoing work of tending to the sick and injured continued.  
  
It was Leo's turn to be on watch in the Intensive Care ward. These were the worst cases, where starvation, malnutrition, and injury from accident and abuse and neglect had brought the occupants to the brink of death.  
  
Leo found himself, after his first rounds, standing in the section for the fourteen year old girl who had been transferred the prior day. Her vitals were weak. He looked over the readout from the biobed and noted all of the failing organs, the damaged flesh and injuries, and felt a chill go down his spine at the thought of what she had suffered at the hands of other Human beings.  
  
He stepped past the drapes and sat down in the chair beside the bed. "I don't know what your name is," he murmured. "But I want you to know… I'll do whatever I can so that you can live. So you can… get better from this, and have the future you deserve." Leo blinked back a tear as his mind wandered yet again, focusing on the future that had died in the _Aurora_ medbay's OR.  
  
There was, of course, no reaction. The girl was comatose.  
  
There was movement that disturbed the cream-colored drapes. Leo looked up to see the interloper. Doctor Franklin was now standing where he'd been standing before. "Hey," said the older physician.  
  
"Hey," Leo answered.  
  
"I thought you'd be here," Franklin said. He looked to the girl and a clear, deep sadness came to his eyes. "We received a positive genetic match for the patient."  
  
"Oh?" Leo felt his stomach churn. It was clear the news wasn't good.  
  
"Four matches." Franklin shook his head. "All from the remains unearthed in the Retzoff mass grave."  
  
"Matches already?", Leo asked. "Then they must have been at the top of the grave."  
  
"They were. I checked the reports… the sample numbers matched with the newest remains. Probably some of those executed before your troops could secure the camp." Franklin shook his head. "It's… hard to imagine that we, as a species, can leave our homeworld, settle countless planets in the galaxy… and still treat one another like this."  
  
"We're dealing with the most evil Human ideology to ever exist," said Leo. He swallowed. "Seeing things like this… I honestly hope I never have any of those SS men in my medbay."  
  
"Because you don't want to treat them?"  
  
"Because I'm afraid I wouldn't." Leo sighed. "I'm afraid I would break every oath and promise I've made as a physician."  
  
"Right." Franklin nodded. "And we don't want to become anything like them."  
  
"Any luck finding her name?", Leo asked.  
  
Franklin shook his head. "Nothing yet. Judging by the reports she was one of the few survivors from the barracks they assigned her too. And the SS records were corrupted by a data virus."  
  
"Intentional." Leo sighed.  
  
"You know…" Franklin began. "I've had my share of cases that went bad. People who might have lived who didn't. Sometimes it was just chance, sometimes they did something they shouldn't have…" The images of an entire section of _Babylon-5_ filled with dead Markab came to him. "...but my greatest failure was a child patient I had during my first year on B5. He was from a species that was just making contact with the galaxy. He had a… condition that was killing him that I could heal with a surgical operation." The details were clearly vague, and Leo understood that he would have said it in just about as many words to maintain confidential details.  
  
Leo noticed the old pain on Franklin's face. "What happened?" he asked gently.  
  
"Well, his people had a cultural taboo against the cutting of the body," Franklin answered. "They were willing to let him die because they believed that if I cut open the body, he would lose his soul."  
  
"And they kept you from saving him?" Leo asked.  
  
Franklin shook his head. And Leo immediately understood what happened. A clear sympathy appeared in his expression. "You did what you thought was right," Leo said. But he knew that wouldn't be enough.  
  
"I violated the Code of Ethics," Franklin answered. "And for nothing."  
  
"It seems they violated something more when they murdered their own son."  
  
Franklin didn't put much energy into his nod of acknowledgement. "To their minds he wasn't their son anymore. Just a soulless husk that thought it was alive."  
  
"Still…" Leo shook his head.  
  
They remained silent for several seconds. Once it was clear that neither had anything to say on the conversation material, Leo asked, "I figured you would be moving on by now. I know you're here to inspect things for Earthdome, but that should only be a day or two of your time, right?"  
  
"True. And I'm due on Harris Station next week for a conference with all of the various medical organizations to go over the distribution of medical supplies. However, Earthdome wants me to stay until Dr. Zimmerman gets his holographic system ready." Franklin made a wistful shake of his head. "It seems some people at Earthdome are interested in Starfleet's emergency medical hologram technology."  
  
"I've heard those things have terrible bedside manners."  
  
"Just one of the many things I'll have to evaluate." Franklin checked his watch. "I've got a meeting to go to with the Field Hospitals' Administration. I'll see you for lunch tomorrow?"  
  
Leo nodded. "Yeah. Have a good evening." He sat and waited some time after Franklin walked away. He finally stood up and moved on, ready to begin another set of rounds.  
  
  
  
  
Dreams are tricky things. Typically, people start forgetting them as they wake up, which could be an advantage when you're dealing with nightmares.  
  
But for Leo, the nightmares that came that night refused to fade away once he was awake. He was back in the Intensive Care ward with that nameless fourteen year old survivor from the camp. Her vitals had started dropping and everything he did, no matter how medically sound, no matter how much it should have worked, failed.  
  
And then, as the monitors let off the loud tone warning of a stopped heart, her eyes snapped open and looked at him with anger. "You let me die," the girl said, in an indeterminate accent. "Just as you let Joshua Marik die."  
  
That part of the nightmare stuck with Leo the strongest. He stepped out of his shower and looked to his fogged up mirror. A hand wiped away the film of moisture and revealed his reflection. His brown eyes betrayed how tired he felt. Remnant water from the shower slowly dripped its way down his skin, little reflective dots on the dark surface.  
  
He stared at his reflection as the nightmare again ran its course through his mind and his heart. Slowly, quietly, his hand moved toward the toothbrush. Only after gripping it did he re-focus his mind on the immediate needs of his hygiene. He had morning rounds in one of the normal care wards coming; he would need breakfast before going down.  
  
Breakfast, and a good cup of coffee.  
  
  
  
  
Andre Faqin was also sitting down to a nice breakfast, better than some of his fellow citizens were eating.  
  
It was partway through this meal that he heard the tone and went to his basement. The comm device was flashing. His heart was hammering as he hit the accept key.  
  
The face that appeared was _Standartenführer_ Fassbinder. " _Ah, Faqin_ ," he said. " _As you have served the Reich well, I wanted to give you proper warning. I suggest you not arrive at work today. Remain in your basement_."  
  
Faqin immediately knew what that meant. "So you are coming?"  
  
"The attack will commence soon, yes. And I would hate for you to be trapped in it."  
  
"Thank you, _Herr Standartenführer_."  
  
  
  
  
When Leo arrived at Transporter Station 2, medical kit in hand and his white doctor's lab coat over his black-with-blue-trim uniform, he was met by Jarod, Tom, and Lucy. "Good morning," he said to them. "Coming down too?"  
  
"We're heading back to Field Hospital Charlie today," Jarod answered for them. "Zimmerman's going to be at Alpha today setting up there, but he wants us to finish installing all of the holo-emitters in the wards of Charlie."  
  
" _All_ of the wards?" asked Leo. "Even the Intensive and Critical ones?"  
  
"I'm going to be the one in Critical, so yeah," Lucy said, arms crossed. Leo noted that the three were in their field action uniforms, not standard duty uniforms, and with pulse pistols in holsters on their hips. Lucy additionally carried the hilt to a _lakesh_ on the other hip.  
  
"And who authorized him to do this? We can't have technical personnel stomping around all day among our most vulnerable patients."  
  
"Apparently he's got every big medical bigwig you can find signing off on him doing this." Jarod shook his head. "I'll handle Intensive Care, though, so you don't need to worry about that."  
  
Leo sighed. At least Jarod, who knew something of medicine given his multiple talents, would know how to accommodate the needs of the Intensive Care ward. "Alright. I can see you don't have a choice in this." Leo went up to the transporter pad. "Let's get to work," he said, with little enthusiasm.  
  
  
  
  
The day was getting past the equivalent of noon locally - roughly two hours ahead of noon for the _Aurora_ crew's clock - when Leo reported to the transfer ward. Doctors Chakwas and T'Perro were already at work, going over the patient files and giving them final checkups before the orderlies moved them on toward the transporter station. Leo activated the medical omnitool and pulled the hand scanner out of his pocket. He started work on his first patient, a man in his thirties, and quickly verified the patient was ready for transfer to a dedicated facility elsewhere. With a nod an orderly started pushing the man's stretcher bed away.  
  
"How much longer are you going to be here, Doctor Gillam?", Chakwas asked.  
  
"Until the _Aurora_ is called away, I imagine," Leo replied. "Maybe in a few days at the pace we're going. You?"  
  
"I'm on my way back to Grodni 3 with this load," she answered. "The Systems Alliance has recalled me to testify before Parliament on the conditions here. And I have preparations to make for my new posting."  
  
"So you're going to be the senior attending physician for the trip back on the _Lumwe_."  
  
"It'll keep me busy. It's a two week trip back to Alliance space, after all."  
  
"Right." Leo scanned his next patient, a twenty year old male. He noted, with concern, signs of organ failure. An extra look verified that the case had yet to be serious. This put Leo in the position of making a judgment on whether to keep the man here, in the hopes of further stabilizing him, or sending him on to the ship for transfer to the full facilities at the Grodni 3 Medical Complex. After a quick check on the patient's vitals, Leo made his decision and flagged the patient for special care on the _Lumwe_.  
  
For a moment he was struck by how just that little decision could yet make a huge difference. If he was wrong, he increased the man's risk of dying while in transit. The _Lumwe_ was a state of the art Alliance hospital ship, true, but hospital ships could carry only so much medical gear or staff. It was the difference between a point five percent chance of death and a one percent chance - still low, low enough to be considered safe, but double his chance of dying compared to the Field Hospital with its greater number of medical support staff (not counting Zimmerman's impending holographic doctors).  
  
On the other hand, if he kept the man needlessly and the planet was subjected to an attack…  
  
"It is going to be interesting, being posted to a vessel again," Chakwas said, taking Leo out of his thoughts. He looked over at the older woman as she examined a sixteen year old boy. Another orderly was already bringing up Leo's next patient, a twenty-five year old female.  
  
"Oh? What kind?"  
  
"A new frigate," Chakwas replied. "It's from a joint project with the Turians. The _Normandy_."  
  
"From what I've heard, your frigates are just as spartan as our attack ships," Leo noted.  
  
"Yes, but it will still come with the best medical gear we can equip it with." Chakwas smiled. "And the crew is going to be rather small. Just a few dozen people. I won't have much of a staff, maybe a nurse and an orderly, but I'll get to know the crew more easily."  
  
That drew a nod of agreement from Leo as he finished the last scan on his current patient, the twenty-something woman. Her paled skin had a brown tint to it, and her features made Leo think she was Latin American _mestizo_ , or perhaps straight up Native American. Healed internal injuries, lingering malnutrition… and something Leo hadn't expected to see. "Doctor Chakwas, what do you make of this?" WIth a tap on his omnitool Leo projected the data over to hers.  
  
Chakwas looked down at the amber hard-light surrounding her left forearm, a contrast to the blue used for the Alliance's new omnitools, and examined the readings he sent. Her expression changed to one of shock. "How was that missed…?"  
  
The girl looked up and asked something. It wasn't in English, but Leo's translator device kicked in and gave him the proper translation: "What is it?"  
  
"You're pregnant," Leo answered.  
  
His patient's eyes widened in shock.  
  
"It looks like she's about six to eight weeks along," Chakwas confirmed. "That would put the time of conception somewhere between three to five weeks before the camp was liberated."  
  
It was clear that the woman had no idea of her condition. She stared off into space with a resigned look. As if the universe, or multiverse, was out to hurt her personally.  
  
Leo had a sick, terrible feeling in his stomach. For form's sake, he asked a question he was sure had an unhappy answer. "Do you know where the father is? Do you want us to find him?"  
  
The answer was a single word that confirmed Leo's suspicions. "No."  
  
Leo looked back to Chakwas. "With her physical condition, pregnancy is dangerous."  
  
"I know. But I can't justify leaving her here." Chakwas walked over and took the girl's hand. "I'll see to it that her condition is noted and I will assume control of her treatment. She'll be fine, Doctor Gillam."  
  
Leo could see Chakwas was convinced. He nodded. "Okay." He cleared the patient for transfer to the _Lumwe_ and went on to the next. "I wonder how we missed that?"  
  
"The first medical teams examining the Retzoff survivors were exhausted by the time I got here two weeks ago," Chakwas pointed out. "I'll have to look on her chart, but I suspect we'll find that one of the younger physicians was responsible. He or she was exhausted, sleep-deprived…"  
  
"It's easy to make a mistake then," Leo agreed. "Especially with emotions as they'd be, seeing that camp for the first time. And maybe, if it was one of the non-Human doctors, they might have not recognized the earliest stage of Human pregnancy."  
  
"Also possible." Chakwas was already at work on her next patient. "Practicing medicine inevitably leads to moments that can leave a physician emotionally compromised. Practicing medicine in this situation, seeing these people…" Chakwas shook her head. A grim look crossed her face, drawn and tired as it looked. "I can't help but wonder what went through the minds of the camp's medical staff. We know they had one. How could a doctor taught to heal accept such widespread abuse?"  
  
"No one is ever the villain in their own eyes," Leo said. He was already scanning the next patient. This one, a male of somewhere between sixteen and twenty, had a thousand yard stare and an expression that bordered on catatonia. Leo touched the young man's shoulder and said, "You're doing just fine. And you're never coming back to this place." Once an orderly moved the patient on, Leo continued to speak to Chakwas. "As far as those SS doctors are concerned, their obligation to medicine begins and ends with what the SS and its leaders says it is."  
  
"Those men aren't real doctors," Chakwas hissed.  
  
"We know that, but they think they are." Leo shook his head. "There's the scary thing about this kind of thing, about Nazism and all of the other systems like theirs. They twist and corrupt everything, every institution, every occupation, to accept their cruelty. Doctors aren't immune to it. Nobody is. It's why we have to win this war."  
  
They finished their current pair of patients. While the ward wasn't empty, it was clear they had reduced the population of the ward by a significant amount.  
  
"I'd better get my bags," Chakwas said. She extended a hand toward Leo. "Take care, Doctor Gillam. I look forward to seeing you again sometime."  
  
"Good luck on your new posting, Doctor Chakwas," Leo answered.  
  
  
  
  
Jarod, Lucy, and Tom Barnes gathered in the Standard Care Ward for the test. "I hope this is worth all of the time and work we put into it," Barnes muttered.  
  
"Hold on, it's Zimmerman." Jarod keyed his omnitool. Zimmerman appeared on the screen it was projecting, clearly back on the _Lexington_. "Doctor?"  
  
" _I've completed the testing at the other sites_ ," said Zimmerman. " _How is your progress?_ "  
  
"I was just about to turn it on," Jarod said.  
  
" _Then, by all means, do so._ "  
  
Hiding his slight irritation at Zimmerman's ego, Jarod looked up. "Computer, activate Emergency Medical Hologram program."  
  
A holographic figure formed from nothingness, clad in a Starfleet uniform with medical blue on the shoulders. Jarod was not the least bit surprised to see that the figure was the striking image of Zimmerman himself. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency," the hologram stated.  
  
"This is a hardware test," Lucy said.  
  
"Ah. Of course." Much to the surprise of the others there was a _hint_ of impatience and irritation at this fact in the hologram's voice. "And how, precisely, did you intend to test me?"  
  
" _Let's start with a standard medical scan_ ," Zimmerman said.  
  
"Okay, start with me," said Lucy.  
  
The EMH picked up a Starfleet medical tricorder from a nearby rack. He pulled the scanner piece from the end of it and ran it over Lucy, from head to stomach, while looking at the display. "No medical issues detected. All organs functioning properly. Body mass is well into acceptable levels. Congratulations, young lady, you are the picture of health. Although I am noticing an above-normal level of stress indicators."  
  
"I've been in a hospital full of concentration camp survivors for two days," Lucy replied. A frown crossed her face.  
  
"Ah. And there are some peculiarities in your body's bio-electric levels. I recommend you get a full workup to identify the cause of the issue."  
  
" _Let's see one more scan_ ," Zimmerman said. " _And allow the EMH to select his subject_."  
  
"Right."  
  
The EMH nodded to Zimmerman and Jarod and looked between him and Barnes. The latter crossed his arms and frowned when the EMH turned his tricorder toward him.  
  
"Well. Hrm. I'm reading glucose levels above recommended levels, and quite a few chemicals in your digestive system… what precisely have you been imbibing?"  
  
"Soda," Barnes answered. He held up his canteen. "Pop."  
  
The EMH scanned the canteen. An expression of disgust came to his face. "Sir, I must recommend you get rid of that substance immediately. Remove it from your diet."  
  
"Leo's been on me for years to cut back on soda, and it didn't work for him either," Barnes retorted. "So why don't you go frak…" He stopped at seeing Jarod's intent look. "Right, a test."  
  
"Well, if you want to go on poisoning yourself, that's fine by me."  
  
Lucy shook her head. "Okay, this thing is way too acerbic. Are we really going to inflict its personality on these people? They've suffered enough."  
  
" _I may make some tweaks to the personality algorithms,_ " Zimmerman conceded.  
  
"What about the ethics programming, Doctor?" Jarod was looking at the screen with concern. "This thing had no problems blurting out medical information about Lieutenant Lucero and Lieutenant Barnes. That's not ethical in medicine."  
  
Zimmerman fidgeted. " _Yes, well, that may be an artifact of the testing mode. He has to demonstrate his knowledge and ability as a medical doctor, and that means speaking about what he is examining."  
  
"_ Sounds like a pretty damned bad bug if you ask me," Barnes grumbled. "I wouldn't want to be treated by this thing."  
  
"I'll have you know that I am composed from the medical knowledge of Starfleet's finest doctors," the EMH protested. "My ability to make accurate medical judgements is unequaled."  
  
"And that might be the only thing you're good for, you frakking…"  
  
"Okay, the test is done," Jarod said, interrupting them. "Computer, disengage EMH."  
  
The holographic counterpart of Zimmerman faded away into thin air.  
  
" _I'll get to work on final coding updates_ ," Zimmerman said. " _I should have them for you before the_ Lexington _departs tomorrow._ "  
  
"Thank you. Jarod out."  
  
"Well, at least we're done with that," Barnes sighed. "I just want to get back to my real job."  
  
"You said it," Lucy sighed.  
  
There was something in her voice that told Jarod she was being the most affected by what they were dealing with. With her abilities, Jarod wasn't surprised. She could sense the misery and fear and loss from the camp survivors directly. He wondered, briefly, if she felt such things like they actually belonged to her in the first place?  
  
"Well, we'd better finish up down here," said Jarod. "Let's run some more equipment tests before we call it a day."  
  
  
  
  
Robert was finishing up daily paperwork in his office when he got the call. Admiral Drelini appeared. The Dorei woman, one of the Alliance's best field admirals and commander of the 9th Fleet, went right to business. " _The Reich has launched a counter-offensive adjacent to your current sector. They appear to be attempting to retake the Pleiades Cluster and their major colonies on Alpina and New Westphalia._ "  
  
Robert nodded. It explained some of his nervousness lately, the feeling of something being about to happen, which was common enough when you were on the front of a war. "Do you need anything from the _Aurora_?"  
  
" _We need to make sure all civilian vessels are gone from the area of New Brittany. Issue an immediate Level One evacuation order. All non-combat ships are to jump to safety elsewhere, regardless of previously-planned destination. As soon as this operation is complete I want you to withdraw the_ Aurora _to rendezvous with the_ Epaminondas _Battle Group at Delta Korva. We'll need every available combat ship for the counter-attack._ "  
  
"We'll get on that immediately, Admiral. Dale out." Robert immediately hit the intercom key on his desk. "Bridge, we just received an evacuation order from Command. I want all medical personnel and patients evacuated from the Field Hospitals immediately. Bring all transporters online and have _Koenig_ launch to assist the evacuation. Launch our runabouts too if you must."  
  
" _Acknowledged, Captain_ ," Jupap replied.  
  
Robert got up from his seat and went out to the bridge. "Go to Code Yellow and standby for shields," he ordered, and the officers present went to work on it. Julia, Angel, and Cat were the only senior officers on the bridge given all of the officers sent down to New Brittany or off-duty. Julia moved over to her chair while Robert assumed his. "Put the fighters on standby."  
  
"Is it bad?" asked Julia.  
  
"The Nazis are striking toward Pleiades," Robert replied. "Drelini wants an evacuation of non-combat personnel from New Brittany."  
  
"Incoming signal from the _Lexington_ ," said Jupap.  
  
"Put Ben Zoma on."  
  
The Starfleet captain appeared on the screen. " _We've heard of your evacuation order, Captain_ ," Ben Zoma stated. " _I've ordered my transporter crews to assist. We'll take on as many patients and medical staff as we can_."  
  
"Thank you, Captain." Robert nodded. "Your help is apprec-".  
  
Before he could finish, Caterina spoke up. "Captain, I've got warp signatures on long range sensors," she said. "They're consistent with anti-matter pulse drives."  
  
Robert turned away from Ben Zoma's image to face Cat. Julia did the same. "What's their course, Lieutenant?"  
  
Cat was already making that determination. And the answer was easy to guess given the look on her face. "They're on their way here. They'll be in range in about forty minutes."  
  
"They must be racing in at maximum warp to get here that fast," Julia observed.  
  
Robert was already turning back to Ben Zoma. "Did you get that, Captain?"  
  
" _Yes_ ," he answered. " _We have already commenced the evacuation._ "  
  
"We're doing the same. I want to get you and the hospital ships out of here before the enemy enters range."  
  
"Have your science officers keep a close eye on their short-range sensors," Julia added. "They might have sent cloaked attack ships ahead of their main force."  
  
" _We're already running regular sensor sweeps_. _I will keep you informed if we find anything_."  
  
Robert returned to his seat. By the time he did so Ben Zoma's image was gone from the holo-viewscreen. "We'll need to do the same. Jupap, set the jump drive for…" He considered his options for a moment. "...Charing Station, C502. We'll start jumping hospital ships out if we need to."  
  
"Doing so now."  
  
"The evacuation?" he asked Julia.  
  
She nodded back after checking her station. "Already underway."  
  
That was it for the moment. All they could do was watch and wait.  
  
  
  
  
The short timetable being given for the evacuation had made one thing abundantly clear: they were not going to get everyone out.  
  
Leo hated that thought. If the planet fell to the enemy, the hospital patients would go right back to the inhumane conditions the Nazis had kept them in, if they weren't murdered out of hand. But they just didn't have the time to get everyone out. Especially Critical and Intensive Care patients, who were in delicate, even fragile, conditions that defied the use of transporters or shuttle flights. They were left with no choice at the moment but to focus on getting the more-stable patients to safety.  
  
The chaos in the Standard Care Ward was barely contained as patients were secured to their beds and rolled out. A babble of frightened and uncertain voices threatened to overwhelm the necessary verbal communication between doctors and orderlies that kept the evacuation going. Leo finished securing straps to keep a middle-aged woman secure on her bed even as she weakly resisted. "No," she pleaded. "Please."  
  
"This is for your own safety," Leo assured her. "They'll come off as soon as you're on a ship."  
  
"No… I don't want to be tied down," continued the protest.  
  
"I promise you, it's just to keep you from falling off, they _will_ come off once you're safely on a ship." Leo could say no more as an orderly, a Tellarite volunteer, came along and began pushing the bed away. He moved on to his next patient.  
  
"How is it going?" Leo looked to his left. Franklin was now standing beside him.  
  
"I think we can clear the Standard Ward," Leo answered. "Where's Doctor Jankowski?"  
  
"He's already on the _Halwell_. I'm going up to the _Renari_ with the next evacuation load."  
  
Leo frowned. "Who's staying behind to watch the patients we can't get out?"  
  
"T'Perro and Crusher have volunteered." Franklin had a guilty look on his face. The unspoken fact is that he would have done the same if he could, but he was undoubtedly operating under orders from Earthdome to vacate the front if he was at risk of death or capture. "With a small staff."  
  
"I'll stay too," Leo said.  
  
"Are you sure about that? Two doctors will be…"  
  
"...not nearly enough, and you know that," Leo pointed out. He nodded to an orderly to move his next patient onward.  
  
And Franklin did know it. Just as Leo knew that this was dangerous, one of the most dangerous decisions he'd ever made. There were only so many friendly troops on the planet, there was no telling how many enemy troops would be landing, and no telling when, or if, the Alliance could return in force. His own survival was much more likely if he agreed to evacuate.  
  
But that was something Leo simply couldn't do. Even thinking about it brought that poor fourteen year old in Intensive Care back to his mind. She, and many others, would live or die based on his decisions in the coming hour.  
  
"Okay," Franklin said. "I'll inform the others."  
  
  
  
  
"He's going to _what_?!"  
  
Leo's decision, relayed by Jarod, made Robert want to beam down and knock sense into his friend. "He does know there's no telling when we can get back to get him out, right?"  
  
" _He knows_ ," Jarod replied.  
  
"Don't tell me you're all staying with him," Julia sighed.  
  
" _Of course not. You need us up there. We're preparing to beam back up as soon as the last evac shuttle launches."_  
  
Once the channel cut Robert shook his head. "He's being stubborn," he grumbled.  
  
Julia replied with a nod. "I know. And at the same time, he's doing something he is convinced is right."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Cat, status on those Nazi ships coming in?"  
  
"Eighteen minutes out," Cat answered. I've been analyzing the warp signatures' power source. It's not good news."  
  
"How many ships?"  
  
"Somewhere between eight to ten." She looked at him with clear worry on her face. "And one of them is a dreadnought."  
  
"If that's true, we'll need the _Epaminondas_ and her battle group to retake the planet," Julia said.  
  
"Assuming that's where Relini wants us."  
  
  
  
  
"I'm staying too."  
  
Jarod and Barnes looked at Lucy as she said those words. Neither sighed or reacted negatively to her announcement. Both understood it. "Keep an eye on Leo's back then?" Jarod asked.  
  
"Of course," she said. "I'll keep an eye on him. If we can get out on our own, we will. If not…"  
  
"We'll be back for you," insisted Barnes.  
  
"Only five minutes until those Nazi ships make orbit." Jarod's hand movements brought the blue light of his omnitool to life. He tapped the hard-light key for his comms. "Jarod to _Aurora_ , two to beam up. Lieutenant Lucero is staying."  
  
" _Understood, Commander. Transport is imminent_."  
  
Lucy nodded and swallowed. She had the feeling she needed to be here, to help Leo and the others survive, but that didn't mean she was eager to be stuck on a planet full of Nazis. If Meridina had beamed down, she would feel a whole lot better about this…  
  
_This won't be the first time you've been in a fight without her_ , Lucy reminded herself. _You can do this. You did this on Gamma Piratus, and you're even better now._  
  
That was the thought she kept in her head even as Jarod and Barnes were pulled away by twin columns of light.  
  
  
  
  
The minutes continued on. One by one the various civilian ships in orbit - cargo ships and hospital ships - made the jump to warp. Some of the planetary elite fled in interstellar-capable yachts, clearly hoping to escape the fighting and any Nazi revenge should the planet fall back to their hands.  
  
Jarod stepped onto the bridge. "Tom's already on his way to the _Koenig_ ," he said, making a beeline for Ops. Jupap immediately relinquished the post and went to his backup post along the starboard side of the bridge at Communications. Nick Locarno had already reported to the helm, meaning the entire bridge crew was now gathered.  
  
"Where's Lucy?" Julia asked.  
  
"She decided to stay with Leo and watch his back," Jarod answered. "So did Nasri."  
  
"I hope General Chaganam has his troops ready to protect that hospital," Robert murmured.  
  
Julia looked over at a data screen. "It looks like he's got the Turians' 8th Regiment and a division of Dorei troops in the area. A regiment of the Free Worlds Legionnaires is going to hold New Rennes. A hundred or so freelance mercenaries." A slight smirk crossed Julia's face. "I wonder if Massani is down there."  
  
Before Robert could ask who she was talking about, Cat spoke up. "Enemy ships coming out of warp."  
  
As she spoke, the holographic tactical map by Julia lit up. The planet dominated the picture while eight angry red markers now blipped into existence. Robert frowned. The enemy had come out of warp in a position to try and pin them against New Brittany. Whomever it was, they didn't want the _Aurora_ and the other ships to escape.  
  
"Not just any Reich ships," Julia murmured, now looking at the holo-viewscreen. Robert did the same thing and frowned, recognizing the familiar dark coloring adorning the Reich warships instead of the customary gunmetal gray.  
  
"The SS," he said. As he did so, his mind went back over two months to 452TD and the Nazi trap during the failed raid operation. _SS ships showed up at the end to try and trap us too._ He felt a sudden suspicion that the timing of that attack had not been a matter of luck.  
  
"The dreadnought's IFF code is reading as the _Baldur von Schirach_ ," Jarod said. "It was one of the ships heavily damaged at the Battle of New Pommern three months ago."  
  
Before Robert could inquire further, a voice came from the bridge speakers. " _This is Captain Gilaad Ben Zoma of the Federation_ Starship Lexington _to Reich warships. As the Federation is militarily neutral in this conflict and my ship is here for medical and humanitarian operations only, I must formerly request that you_ …"  
  
The Nazis, unsurprisingly, didn't even let the Starfleet captain finish his _pro forma_ request. Robert suspected even Ben Zoma knew they wouldn't, but went through the motions to leave no doubt in the Federation as to what occurred.  
  
The _Schirach_ fired its bow super-disruptor assembly into the _Nebula_ -class ship's shields. The large green energy beams slammed savagely into the blue energy shields protecting the Federation starship. The _Lexington_ 's shields bore the blast without failing. "Their shields are down to thirty-two percent," Jarod said.  
  
"Link us with Ben Zoma. We're going for the weak spot in their formation." Robert looked to Julia. "Combat launch the _Koenig_."  
  
Julia nodded. She knew how he thought, that he hadn't wanted to risk the _Koenig_ being crippled if he could avoid it, but the situation would require the extra firepower to make sure they all got out. " _Koenig_ is combat launching," she confirmed. Although no one could see it directly, everyone could image the sight of the attack ship forcefully decoupling itself from the airlock and flying backward from its protective dock in the back of the primary hull. "The other ships are signaling readiness to follow our lead."  
  
Robert was already looking over his tactical display. The _Aurora_ and _Lexington_ were joined by a Dorei starbird, two Colonial Confederation destroyers, and a wing of Turian frigates supporting their ground troops. "Hold the Colonial and Turian ships back to protect the remaining civilians as best as they can. I want that starbird with us to blow away that Nazi cruiser." He identified a Nazi ship anchoring the enemy formation over the North Pole of New Brittany. "Let's go!"  
  
Even by this point shots were being exchanged with the Nazi ships. The fire grew furiously as the _Aurora_ and her ad hoc formation plunged toward the enemy. The enemy superdreadnought fired again, this time skimming the shields of the _Aurora_ near one of her nacelles. Indeed, it quickly became obvious that the bulk of enemy fire wasn't at the helpless civilian ships or their lighter protectors, it was at the _Aurora_. _We're the target_ , Robert realized. _They're after us. Maybe this whole operation is after us_.  
  
At Angel's command, azure and amber energy lashed out at their foes, joined by the furious amber energy pulses coming from the _Koenig_ 's pulse phaser cannons. The enemy cruiser ahead took the hits on the shields and kept firing back. The _Lexington_ joined in on the attack with her phasers and a barrage of photon torpedoes. The Dorei starbird beside them fired purple-hued plasma cannons into the enemy light cruiser adjacent to their main target, causing red shields to flare while silver-white solar torpedoes from the Alliance-affiliated ships smashed against both targets.  
  
The range grew close, and Robert was afraid the enemy cruiser might very well ram them to stop them, but as they approached the last kilometer Angel's fire found its mark. Thick pulses of sapphire energy from the _Aurora_ 's pulse plasma cannon battery hammered down the shields of the enemy _Sedan_ -class cruiser and began blasting into the armored hull. As a spread of solar torpedoes threatened to break the enemy ship in half, the phasers and photon torpedoes on the _Lexington_ found their targets in the enemy ship's drive section. The SS cruiser was reduced to flaming debris as the _Aurora_ and the other ships flew past.  
  
They didn't get away unscathed. Missiles from the other enemy ships converged on one of the Colonial Confederation destroyers until its shields nearly disappeared. A thick emerald beam from a second enemy heavy cruiser moving up behind them speared the rear engine section and blew the destroyer apart. "Missiles inbound on the _Serene Care_ ," Jarod said. "She's trying to evade but…"  
  
Robert could only watch in horror as missile after missile found the hospital ship, carrying thousands of sick and wounded patients and medical staff with her crew. Her shields took the hits with bursts of blue light. But with more shots incoming there was no way they could get to warp before taking a deadly blow. One missile hit finally found hull, blowing debris from the rear of the ship. Another missile came in, looking very much like a kill shot…  
  
....and struck the Turian frigate that threw itself in front of the beleaguered hospital ship. The mass effect shields, backed by deflector shielding, absorbed the first missile and then another.  
  
But they couldn't absorb the super-disruptor blast from the enemy superdreadnought. The thick emerald beam speared the Turian ship and blew it apart. The same beam grazed the hospital ship, sending more flame and debris from its wounded hull.  
  
" _Serene Calm_ reports that their warp systems are damaged, they're not sure they can make it to warp."  
  
" _We're on it_ ," Zack's voice said. The _Koenig_ swept in above the hospital ship. A ribbon of blue light emerged from the ventral hull of the attack vessel and gripped the bow of the _Serene Calm_. " _We've got them in tow. IU jump in three, two, one…_ "  
  
The _Koenig_ created a swirling green vortex of light in front of it and pulled the larger _Serene Calm_ into the vortex as more fire converged on their location. They were gone mere seconds before another disruptor shot struck the vortex wall with enough energy to violently collapse the jump point.  
  
One by one, the remaining friendly ships jumped to warp speed. The _Aurora_ and _Lexington_ waited until they were all gone before they did the same. "Any sign of pursuit?" Julia asked.  
  
Caterina took a moment to respond. "No. I'm not reading them going to warp. It looks like they know they can't catch us."  
  
"They could catch the hospital ships," Jarod pointed out. He turned in his chair and looked at Robert and Julia with a furrowed brow. "But not us."  
  
"And we're the ones they're after," Robert said. "452TD, now this… That has to be the reason."  
  
"We'll report this to Maran." Julia couldn't keep the worry off her face for another reason. "And hopefully, we'll be going back soon to get Leo, Nasri, and Lucy back."  
  
"Hopefully," Robert agreed.  
  
  
  
  
On the bridge of the _von Schirach_ , Fassbinder watched with irritation as the _Aurora_ successfully escaped into warp.  
  
"The enemy ships are out of range." The report was from one of the bridge officers.  
  
"Did the enemy abandon their ground troops?" asked _Oberführer_ Wolfgang Schiller, the dreadnought's commander.  
  
" _Ja._ I am reading troop concentrations around New Rennes and Renardville. The enemy is generating a theater shield covering both sites."  
  
"They will not endure our firepower for long. Prepare for orbital bombardment."  
  
Fassbinder felt a wave of irritation at that. Schiller was being impatient. He spoke up immediately. " _Herr Oberführer_ , with all respect, our orders are to preserve the planet."  
  
"Why? The Bretons aren't Aryans anyway." Schiller's expression showed his frustration. "We need our troops for other worlds."  
  
"Our orders came directly from _Oberst-Gruppenführer_ Kranefuss. The planet must be taken intact. The Reich needs its food supplies untouched."  
  
Schiller's face briefly twisted into anger before he restored control of himself. "I do not recall asking for your ' _advice_ ', _Standartenführer_. I do not need you to tell me how to run my ship!"  
  
Fassbinder bristled at having his place questioned. But he could not afford a fight with Schiller. "My apologies, _Oberführer_ , I overstepped my bounds."  
  
Mollified, Schiller returned his gaze back to the screen. "If not for the illustrious _Oberst-Gruppenführer_ , I would already be bombing this wretched planet to rubble. But I am aware of them and will follow them. Comms, inform _Gruppenführer_ Fischer that we are ready to deploy his troops."  
  
" _Jawohl_."  
  
Fassbinder waited for another moment before saying, with great care, "With your permission, _Oberführer_ , I will leave to join our landing forces."  
  
"Very well. Make sure I am kept informed."  
  
" _Jawohl_."  
  
"You are dismissed."  
  
With that permission, Fassbinder left the bridge to find transport down to the planet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo faces tough decisions while working in a field hospital under Nazi attack.

Between his education and interaction with other people, Leo had become familiar with various sayings. "Crossing the Rubicon", "Past the point of no return", and such. The idea of taking an action that cannot be reversed and committing yourself until the very end.  
  
He knew that was what he had done when he decided to stay on New Brittany regardless of the danger. And it gave him a feeling of peace now that the point of no return had been passed.  
  
If anything undermined that, it was that his staying meant Nasri and Lucy had as well, and if anything happened to them he would have played a part in that.  
  
But there was no time for that now. Right now the Field Hospital had to be set up to receive wounded in addition to its remaining patients. The Critical and Intensive cases that couldn't be evacuated still needed their usual care. In short, he was going to be busy busy busy, and that kept Leo's mind occupied.  
  
Currently he was overseeing the Critical Care Ward, doing rounds. "Doctor Gillam." T'Perro approached him from the door. "Doctor Crusher asked me to find you and see if you know the access codes to the supply locker."  
  
Leo shook his head. "I was a visiting physician only and they never told me. They didn't tell you?"  
  
"I'm afraid not," the Asari answered. The translation programs rendered her voice into an accent that sounded like refined English. "Jankowski was supposed to relay the codes to Crusher before leaving."  
  
"But he didn't." Leo activated his omnitool and used it to connect to Lucy. "Gillam to Lucero."  
  
" _Lucero here_."  
  
"How busy are you?"  
  
" _Doctor Crusher asked me to double-check the security systems for the hospital. In case we get attacked._ "  
  
"There was a mix-up and nobody provided the access codes for the secure storage room. We've got vital medicines and equipment in there we're going to need access to."  
  
" _Great. Well, I can try to hack it. These new engineering omnitools have direct accessing abilities even our best multidevices never enjoyed._ "  
  
"If you have to break the door down, go ahead. But please don't do anything to damage what's inside."  
  
" _Understood. I'll let you know when I'm done. Lucero out._ "  
  
"Thank you, Doctor Gillam," T'Perro said.  
  
"You're welcome. Although Lucy's the one who will deserve the thanks." Leo signed off on his current patient's status and left the sleeping man to continue resting. "How are the preparations going?"  
  
"The military doctors will handle the triage cases for their soldiers. The Standard Care Ward should be ready to receive new patients soon."  
  
"Let me know when they start coming in."  
  
"Of course." With nothing else to say, T'Perro walked away.  
  
  
  
  
Fassbinder was cleared to transport down several hours after the first landings. _Gruppenführer_ Hermann Fischer, head of the 34th SS Panzer Army, had made his invasion HQ the town hall of a rural village called Grinouville-sur-Crissons. Fassbinder entered this HQ and brought up his arm in a salute and a bellowed " _Heil Sauckel_ ".  
  
" _Heil Sauckel_ ," echoed Fischer, before he turned back to the holographic display of the area. Grinouville-sur-Crissons was along the Crissons itself, a small river flowing down to the sea near New Rennes. They were still in the upper reaches of said river. The ten landed divisions of SS troops, a mix of infantry, power-armored _Panzergrenadiers_ , and armored fighting vehicles, had already secured their foothold in a fifty mile radius around the original landing point, about four miles from Grinouville-sur-Crissons. Fassbinder looked with approval upon the tactical plots showing that the enemy was in retreat.  
  
" _Standartenführer_ , welcome," said Fischer. " _Oberst-Gruppenführer_ Kranefuss will be pleased with the speed at which we are securing our hold on this world. We have identified enemy forces of several origins. Alliance alien troops, those of the Turians, and those with the large walking tanks they call 'BattleMechs'."  
  
"Are they enough to hold us from the city?"  
  
"It may be a difficult fight, but we have the force to punch through," Fischer assured him. "Is there anything in particular that _Oberst-Gruppenführer_ Kranefuss wanted from your presence?"  
  
"I must get to one of their field hospitals," Fassbinder explained. "There are subjects of interest to the _SS-Reichführer_ that I must recover."  
  
Fischer seemed to consider that. "Which hospital? We have identified four on the planet. Possibly five."  
  
"The one near New Rennes."  
  
"There are two in the vicinity of New Rennes." Fischer indicated the map. One of his subordinates helpfully highlighted the structures.  
  
Fassbinder remained quiet as he thought about it. Not just thought, but felt. He could feel a cool thrum within him that clarified his vision. It granted him an insight he would have otherwise not felt.  
  
And it confirmed what he suspected.  
  
Fassbinder indicated one of the hospitals that, coincidentally, was located beside what had been the Retzoff KZ on New Brittany. "There," he said. "That is where my subjects will be. It fits their mentality to be tending to the _untermensch_ and insubordinate that are kept in the camps."  
  
"I will dispatch a division to force their way through," Fischer said. "But no more. I cannot afford to let my troops be cut off from each other without further support, _Standartenführer_ "  
  
"Very well. And while your troops prepare the way for my detachment, I will arrange for an agent to provide further intelligence," Fassbinder offered. "I will need a secure communication station."  
  
With the help of one of Fischer's junior officers, an _Untersturmführer_ , Fassbinder was directed to a comm set that could send and receive transmissions from SS operative comm units. Once Fassbinder had control he was quickly able to send the signal out.  
  
Several minutes passed, during which Fassbinder was becoming irritated, before Andre Faqin's face appeared. " _Yes,_ Standartenführer _?_ "  
  
"Where have you been?" Fassbinder demanded. The last thing he needed was for Faqin to have compromised anything.  
  
" _I was away from the house when I received your signal. My landlord required assistance._ " Faqin smirked. " _He wanted to burn his Alliance credits for fear that he would be discovered with them when the SS reclaimed the city._ "  
  
Fassbinder's irritation declined slightly. "And did he?"  
  
" _Yes. But I recorded it with the set you provided._ "  
  
"Good, agent. But I have another task for you. I would like you to return to work."  
  
Faqin showed his confusion. " _Sir? Are you sure? I would not want to be seen as a collaborator_ …"  
  
"Do not worry. I will ensure your true loyalties are honored," Fassbinder assured him. "But I need an agent inside the hospital to confirm who is present and where they typically are."  
  
" _Very well, Standartenführer. I will contact you when I can._ "  
  
"Good. I will speak to you later, agent. Fassbinder out."  
  
While around him the staff of _Gruppenführer_ Fischer continued their work of organizing and overseeing the attack, Fassbinder was left with nothing to do. Nothing but waiting.  
  
Waiting… and preparing, which he started by taking out another _Reichpfenning_ coin.  
  
  
  
  
The mess hall felt empty given the activity it had shown when Leo arrived. A few orderlies and a couple of the nurses getting late lunches were the only people in evidence.  
  
The real surprise came when Leo stepped up to the food line and found something he hadn't expected. A steaming large pot was filled with a familiar substance for him: sausage stew.  
  
"Ah, Doctor Gillam." Hargert stepped up on the other side of the food bar. He put on an even fresher pot of the same stew. "I was hoping to see you. You must keep your strength up."  
  
"Hargert, what are you doing here?" Leo asked.  
  
"Keeping the staff well fed, of course," Hargert said. "Albert will be attending things on the ship until they return for us."  
  
"But… if they don't…"  
  
"Then I will probably be killed by the SS." Hargert shrugged. "So be it. ' _Nie weider_ ', Leonard. It means more to me than not becoming a Nazi myself. It means I, and Germans like me, will never again allow these evil men to scare us away from doing the right thing. You and your colleagues and patients need good food, and I am here to provide it."  
  
Leo could only nod in reply. "Thanks, Hargert."  
  
"Now, stew alone does not a meal make," Hargert said. "I have some roast beef sandwiches for you as well, and more strudel baking."  
  
Considering what Leo expected soon, he asked, "Have you been given any stores for our Turian friends? They can't eat our food."  
  
"No, they cannot. But dextro-based foods can still be cooked, and I have found a number of effective recipes for Turian foodstuffs that your patients will, I think, enjoy," Hargert said. "Now please excuse me, I must check on the chicken soup for the little ones."  
  
Hargert left Leo to gather his food. He looked to the tables and found an empty spot, one of many, that he claimed to begin eating.  
  
A short time later he was joined by T'Perro. The Asari doctor looked over the stew thoughtfully before trying it. "This is quite good," she said after a second spoonful. "The cook is your ship's cook, isn't he?"  
  
"He is," Leo said after gulping down a bite of roast beef sandwich. "And he is very good at his job."  
  
"A good meal is important in these occupations." For a moment T'Perro looked around the hall. "Doctor Crusher and I have considered seeing about hiring on more local help. Perhaps even physicians."  
  
"Good luck with that. The locals know what will happen if the Nazis retake the planet and they're identified as working for us." Leo sighed. "It feels like the calm before the storm around here."  
  
"It is."  
  
"So, why did you volunteer to stay behind?" Leo asked.  
  
"Why did you? From what I know, if captured by the enemy you will be shot out of hand simply due to your ethnic background."  
  
"And you'll be shot for being an alien," Leo pointed out. "So it seems we're both screwed if our soldiers don't hold them off."  
  
"Indeed. Peculiar that Doctor Crusher is the only one they would likely not kill out of hand." T'Perro swirled her spoon around in a bowl of stew. "If you must know, I am here to get a taste of field medicine. It may be relevant to an enterprise I am committed to."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"You have heard of the Andromeda Initiative?"  
  
Leo had to think about it for several seconds before nodding. "Yeah. Some woman from M4P2 Earth, I forget her name, was interviewed about it by one of the Alliance news networks."  
  
"Doctor Jien Garson. A charismatic, bright woman. She is funding a large expedition that intends to colonize the Andromeda Galaxy with sleeper arks."  
  
Leo blinked. "Wow, that's… ambitious."  
  
"It is." T'Perro took another bite before continuing. "I have joined the Initiative with a Human colleague of mine. We're due to leave by the end of the decade."  
  
"So… you're just going to leave the galaxy behind," Leo said. "Like that? Just head off to an unknown galaxy."  
  
"Yes. I expect it will be quite interesting. And certainly final. Over six centuries in cryo-sleep to get there. Most of my contemporaries will be in the matriarch stage by the time we arrive." T'Perro grinned thinly at that. "I suppose it is something to walk away from everything you've ever known in life to embark on a bold new future in the unknown."  
  
Leo returned the grin. "I know something about that actually. Although what I did wasn't quite as final as taking a centuries-long cryo-sleep trip to another galaxy."  
  
"A good point."  
  
"So this is getting you experience for the kind of field medicine you might have to practice in the colonies your Initiative will be forming."  
  
"Yes." T'Perro nodded. "And I am evaluating multiversal sources of medical technology to see if we should include them before we leave. Your cortical stimulators, for instance, and some of your medications. Certainly some of the gene treatments may come in use. And the Initiative will probably be buying replicators before we leave."  
  
"I would imagine so."  
  
Leo took another bite after saying so. Other questions formed in his mind concerning this sort of operation, the kind of intensive planning it required, as he chewed and swallowed.  
  
Before he could ask, an Asari nurse appeared at the mess hall doorway. "We have casualties coming in!" she shouted. "The first medevac shuttles are three minutes out."  
  
T'Perro reacted by quickly downing what was left of a roast beef sandwich while Leo got as big a spoonful of the sausage stew as he could. "A pity", she said after gulping. "I hope our host will keep the stew warm."  
  
"Knowing Hargert, he'll have it ready for us when we get back," Leo said. He took one last spoonful, so rushed he only filled half the spoon, and gulped it down. With a final drink of his coffee, he went off to join T'Perro and the nurses and orderlies rushing from the room.  
  
  
  
  
The staff had barely gotten their Triage Ward ready in time before the medevac shuttles started arriving. Turians and Humans alike came through the doors as both medics and patients, the former declaring the injuries and status of the latter for the benefit of the physicians.  
  
Leo's first case was a male Turian soldier with blackened and charred personal armor. "Vitals are low but stable. Wound consistent with a disruptor shot." Leo saw the nurse was a Bolian. "Get the dextro supplies and provide standard disruptor wound care for Turian physiology. He should be fine."  
  
"Yes, Doctor."  
  
The next case was another male Turian. Leo scanned him while a male Turian medic looked on with concern. Leo could see why. "Direct disruptor wound, energy penetration of the armor and shielding, internal damage extensive but treatable. Send him on to Doctor T'Perro for stabilizing until we can operate."  
  
"Yes Doctor," answered the medic.  
  
The roar of another arriving shuttle told Leo this was just beginning. He returned his attention to the next stretcher. Turian female, soldier, missing left leg and left arm and torso perforated with shrapnel and plasma burns. This was a borderline call, but her vital readings - still strong - decided it for Leo. He had her sent on to the nurses for wound care and assignment to Critical Care. A quick glance up told him that Doctor Crusher was still tending to another of the patients he had cleared for further care. They'd already worked through the first batch.  
  
All but one, it turned out, as another stretcher came in bearing a Turian male who looked like he'd been put through a blender. Blue blood coated what was left of his personal armor and several remaining wounds. Leo could see the Turian was alive and, more importantly, in excruciating pain. The mandibles of the Turian's mouth were halfway open and a low moan was coming from his throat. His eyes were focused, with great pain, on one of the medics and then on Leo.  
  
For a moment Leo felt immense frustration. The military had insisted they would handle first stage triage to lessen the strain on the Field Hospitals. Now it was Leo who had to make that painful decision, the decision no doctor ever wanted to make but could be forced into during a critical resource situation: the decision that a patient had to be left to die. But it was clear that heroic efforts would be needed to save this soldier, efforts that would take away from the treatment of several more casualties that would likely be saved.  
  
Leo glanced at the medic, who was looking intently at the patient. "You know each other?" he asked.  
  
There was a catch in the throat of the medic before he answered, "Yes." There was a shade of guilt in the reddish-brown eyes of the Turian medic that told Leo everything he needed to know about why this case was brought to him. He knew this was a waste, but whatever the soldier was to him, the medic hadn't been able to accept the judgement of the Turian military doctor at their mobile hospital.  
  
Leo sighed. With a touch of his omnitool he updated the soldier's record with a literal mark of death that would tell the triage nurses to leave him alone, that he was too far gone.  
  
A part of Leo protested this. That part screamed _I can save this man!_ But the rest of him knew the price of that, the lives that would be lost because he was too busy saving one.  
  
The intensity of the soldier's agony-filled eyes bored into Leo. Almost as if he knew Leo's choice, as if asking him _You fought for Joshua Marik, why not for me?_ Leo forced that thought out and reached over to the nearby medicine tray. A bundle of hyposprays were ready with their contents marked. He found the one with dextro-compatible morphine and picked it up. Leo pressed the device to an intact section of the Turian's carapace-covered flesh, right on the part of the neck where the Turian equivalent of the carotid artery was located, and gave him a dose that no living patient would ever be given outside of extremely special circumstances.  
  
Within seconds the intense look in the Turian soldier's eyes went away. The moan stopped. A contented little sigh of relief was the soldier's last sound before his eyes, now free of pain and, with it, much coherent thought, closed quietly.  
  
"Put your friend in the far corner," Leo instructed the medic. "He's not in pain anymore. That's the best I can do."  
  
"Yes, Doctor," was the medic's response. There was gratitude in it. "Thank you for that, and I apologize. I acted inappropriately."  
  
For a moment Leo nearly spoke to give emotional support to the grieving alien. But he knew Turians took a strong view of duty, and shirking it for personal reasons was shameful in their culture. Trying to comfort could too easily backfire. So he said nothing more to the medic.  
  
Leo might have taken the time to further consider the harsh necessities of battlefield medicine, and indeed he knew he would later, as he always did when these situations were over. But right now he had more patients coming in, with the roar of VTOL engines telling him that the Inner Sphere wounded were now coming in as well.  
  
"No rest for the weary," Leo murmured.  
  
  
  
  
Fortunately for Leo and his two remaining compatriots, reinforcements came during the evening. Field Hospital Bravo was deemed too vulnerable to enemy attack and had been evacuated completely, with all patients and medical personnel pulled back to Charlie. Four doctors came from Bravo: a Turian physician, a physician from the Free Worlds League, an Alakin, and another Alliance Human like Leo, Dr. Ocasio. With their arrival, Leo was able to get out of the Triage Ward after eight grueling hours of dealing with incoming casualties and another two hours in the OR. It was nearly midnight by his internal clock.  
  
Nevertheless Hargert came through for him, waking up from a nap to get fresh stew and freshly-baked garlic baguettes that sated Leo's growling stomach. A cup of rich black coffee helped jolt him to wakefulness.  
  
"Are you sure about that?" Crusher eyed his coffee. "You're due for sleep soon."  
  
Leo shook his head. "No, actually, I told Doctor Ocasio I'd cover his overnight watch in the Critical and Intensive Wards. The man's been up the better part of thirty-six hours and needs his sleep."  
  
"So do you, Doctor," Crusher reminded him pointedly. She took a bite of a pasta dish Hargert had prepared for the dinner meal. Stress was increasing lines on her face.  
  
"We all do, frankly." Leo sighed. "Do you know the part I always hate?"  
  
"The part of what?"  
  
"Triage." Leo frowned. "I hate having to put the 'no' mark on patients because they're too wounded to be stabilized quickly. I hate having to leave them to die."  
  
"Every doctor in this job feels that way," Crusher said. "I've always asked myself if I could have saved those patients with just a little time. In the end, though, it's an unavoidable part of our work. And we have to live with the choices we made."  
  
"Agreed."  
  
"As for the overnight watch, how about we split it? I'll take from 2400 to 0400, you come on at 0400?"  
  
Leo almost said no. Crusher was clearly exhausted as well. It was when he looked into her tired face, and the concerned look there, that he knew she would never accept "no" for an answer. He sighed and nodded. "Sure."  
  
  
  
When the time came, Leo arrived at the doctors' station between the Intensive and Critical Care Wards at 0356 with a mug of black coffee and a breakfast ham and cheese omelette fresh from Hargert's kitchen. He found Doctor Crusher making final notations on a digital reader. "Someone did us all a favor and replicated a couple of nice double-sized beds for the quiet room," he told her.  
  
"I'll take it," she said.  
  
"Any cases come up?"  
  
"The fourteen year old Jane Doe in Intensive showed an increase in her white blood cell count," Crusher revealed. "I would almost think she had a systemic infection, but I've found no signs of one in the scan."  
  
"She may have an autoimmune condition, then." Leo accepted the reader and looked over it. "We can't know anything for sure until she comes out of that coma."  
  
"No sign of any neurological change." Crusher stood. "But for now, one of those beds sounds just about right."  
  
"I'll see you in the morning," Leo said, watching her leave.  
  
His routine went off regularly. He looked over Crusher's notes for the last four hours, as well as Ocasio's notes from the previous shift, while finishing his breakfast. By 0430 he was making his rounds in both wards, dealing with patients who were asleep, or at least mostly so.  
  
Due to the planet's rotation period the sun was already well into the sky by 0545, when Leo sat back down to log his findings for the last round and catch a cup of coffee. He was partly through it when Lucy stepped into the door looking refreshed. "Good morning," Leo said to her.  
  
"Good morning," Lucy replied. "Did you actually sleep? Or did I go to the trouble of getting those beds for nothing?"  
  
Leo smiled at her. "No. I made use of one. And I'll have it again later today, I hope."  
  
"Good." Lucy slipped into a chair and started nibbling on what looked like a breakfast burrito. When she swallowed she said, "So, I've triple-checked all of your gear, all of your equipment, and I put an override into that storage vault so you and the others can get in there whenever you need. The system will recognize your retinas and your DNA to let you in."  
  
"Great news." Leo folded his hands together. "What about the holographics? We could use the extra hands."  
  
"Are you sure?" Lucy frowned. "That thing's got atrocious bedside manners. I don't know if I'd have him treat camp survivors or wounded soldiers."  
  
"Maybe not," Leo agreed, "but we need more hands. It has the medical skill and knowledge to treat Standard patients at least."  
  
There was no arguing with that logic. Lucy drew in a sigh. "We were pretty much done. Zimmerman just had some final coding he wanted to do relating to the system's personality, to make it less acerbic and, frankly, give it more respect for confidential patient information. During testing the program had no problem blurting out medical information."  
  
"I guess confidentiality and testing the program's competence didn't go together," Leo mumbled. He didn't like the thought of the program just blurting out information that might be best kept private. His mind wandered to the girl that he and Chakwas had found the other day to be pregnant, and the thought of how the EMH might have handled that delicate situation if it had been programmed the way it was.. "Is there an easy way to program the system to follow confidentiality ethics?"  
  
"Jarod might have managed it, but Zimmerman's coding is… it's really complex, and I honestly don't want to fiddle with a single line of it."  
  
"Right. So, any suggestions?"  
  
Lucy started thinking on the problem. "I could alter the access permissions, I guess. Give you command authority that would let you give the EMH orders. Then you can just tell him not to divulge information loudly or whatever other tweaks he needs. He'll probably still be acerbic though, and he may even resent the commands."  
  
"That's fine, I'd rather he resent me than spew out to strangers that some poor girl they brought in is pregnant. Or was." Leo glanced at his monitors. Everything was running smoothly. "How long until this is done?"  
  
"How many of the doctors do you want to give this access to?"  
  
"All of them."  
  
Lucy's omnitool came to life. Using the two handed-controls - joint keypads generated, one on her forearm by the tool proper and the other a series of keys generated under her left hand. She started tapping away while a holo-secreen showed lines of code. After several seconds she nodded. "Okay. Try it out. I've given you all permissions to turn the EMH emitters on and off, and to issue binding commands."  
  
"Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Hologram in my office," Leo requested.  
  
The EMH shimmed into view. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."  
  
"Too many to count," Leo muttered. He cleared his throat. "From this point on, you are to exercise discretion when discussing the medical information of a patient to ensure patient confidentiality. There isn't a lot of privacy in the wards, so outside of time-critical information necessary to a patient's health and life, I want medical conditions and issues relayed to the physicians on-staff by electronic notification, not verbal remark."  
  
The EMH actually looked annoyed at that. "You're aware that my testing protocols are only temporary, yes?"  
  
"I am. But your creator isn't here to shut them down right." Leo smiled softly. "And because of how sophisticated your program is, we don't want to risk problems trying to do any modifications ourselves, including removing those protocols. This is the best fix we have."  
  
The way Leo had put it mollified the EMH. "I see your point. Very well. Command input logged and implemented."  
  
"Go ahead and make the rounds in Critical Care," Leo continued. "I'm going to talk to…"  
  
There was a tone from Leo's omnitool. " _T'Perro to Gillam._ "  
  
Leo tapped the blinking blue light to accept the transmission. "Gillam here."  
  
" _Can you meet me in pharmaceutical storage? We may have a major problem._ "  
  
  
  
  
Leo and Lucy found T'Perro with Doctor Amelia Lang, a middle-aged woman with graying chestnut hair and dusky brown skin from the Regulan Free States in the Free Worlds League, and Doctor Niria Gaterius, an older Turian physician. They were standing in the middle of the storage room for the hospital's many medications.  
  
Immediately Leo could tell there was a problem. One area was very low, dangerously so, on stock. "What's wrong?" he asked. "What's missing?"  
  
"Not so much missing as used up," Lang noted. Her English was touched by an accent that made her sound as if she were from British India. Her Anglo-Indian descent was easily noticed after a few moments of observation, with a hint of African ancestry in her cheekbones. "We are nearly out of dextro-compatible medications."  
  
Which explained the sour look on Galerius' face. Leo swallowed and shook his head. Without those medications, treating Turian patients would be impossible. "We'll need to replicate more of what we can," he said.  
  
"The replicator can't manufacture everything," Galerius pointed out. "It seems that the Humans from F1S1 messed up our evac from Bravo. They were supposed to clear out the pharmacy and reserve storage of all remaining medications. They did not do so."  
  
"The 2nd Legionnaires did all they could," Lang protested, sensing the rebuke in the Turian's words.  
  
"Which is why our medical supplies got left…"  
  
"We can't afford to fuss like this," Leo insisted. He looked to Galerius. "Doctor, can we ask the 8th Regiment for their stores?"  
  
"They're running low already," Galerius insisted. "Hospital Delta never carried more than a few emergency dextro-compatible supplies. And Able is already under shelling. We need what's left at Bravo."  
  
"Which the Nazis took last night?" asked Lucy.  
  
"Unfortunately, yes," Lang said. "So getting to those supplies will be impossible."  
  
Lucy was already letting some ideas run through her head. "Maybe not entirely impossible. I can rig up a short-term stealth or cloaking device to a shuttle and fly it in. Give me enough backup and I can get in and out before the Nazis know what hit them."  
  
"That sounds far too dangerous," Leo protested.  
  
"It is dangerous." Lucy nodded in agreement. "But if we don't, some Turians are going to die, right?"  
  
"We'll run out of some of our most important treatments before the day is over," Galerius revealed. "Every Turian in the Intensive Ward will be dead by tomorrow if we don't get re-supplied."  
  
"Then we don't have much choice," Lucy pointed out. "Let me speak to the general in charge."  
  
"The human general from the League, Chaganam, could help," Galerius said. "General Lukasian might even be able to get you a Platoon in support. I can connect you to him."  
  
Lucy nodded. "Make the call."  
  
"Good luck, Lucy," Leo said to her. "Make sure you come back." He turned his head to the others. "I'll head over to the pharmaceutical replicators and make whatever dextro-compatible medications I can to tide us over."  
  
"I'll inform Crusher and Gureep," said Lang, just before she walked out.  
  
  
  
  
Andre Faqin was welcomed with no questioning when he stepped into the main entrance of the Field Hospital. He wasn't the only one, as the more hopeful, or those genuinely supportive of the medical efforts, were also heading back to work as janitors, orderlies, food staff, and other support jobs for the off-world medical personnel. Faqin shook his head and allowed himself a partial thought at these fools, who had earned themselves an execution as soon as the SS retook New Rennes.  
  
It wasn't that he was particularly loyal to the Reich. Nobody could accuse Faqin of being loyal to anyone but himself. But he knew full well how powerful the Reich, especially the SS, were, and even now he found the idea that they would lose the war laughable. It simply wasn't possible. As far as he was concerned, the Reich was intentionally letting the enemy win to uncover secret dissidents in the far colonies so that they could destroy them all when the inevitable counterattack swept through. And isn't that what was happening even now?  
  
The New Breton man accepted his work ID at the main security station from one of those grotesque aliens, a purple-complexioned female with blue face markings and little tentacles in a crest instead of actual hair. _You should have stayed in your home universe_ , he thought. Fassbinder's troops would kill her without a moment's hesitation.  
  
But now was not the time for that thinking. He had to get to work, sweeping and mopping, and confirm who was still here for his employer.  
  
_Fools. Poor fools_ , he thought. _You should have all stayed out of this universe_.  
  
As Faqin stepped around a corner he nearly ran into a young woman in an Alliance uniform, her light brown complexion enough to tell him she would be another of Fassbinder's victims soon enough. He frowned and started to speak when she turned to face him and he stopped. He forced thoughts from his head at seeing the bewildered look on her, the intensity in her blue eyes, and for a moment he felt like she was in his head.  
  
"You'll be needed in the machine shop," she said to him, more than a little irritation in her voice. "And you might want to watch where you're going for now on."  
  
Faqin nodded and said nothing. His mind raced with recognition, though. This was one of them, one of the images Fassbinder had shown him. A member of the _Aurora_ crew. He would have to get a message out, definitely.  
  
But first, he had to continue his round of the hospital. Fassbinder would not be happy if he didn't provide an accurate accounting of them all.  
  
  
  
  
Lucy remained deep in thought on what she was planning while she walked on from her run-in with the local sweeper. She'd cobbled together a rough emissions cloaker from some of the communications hardware, but it wouldn't have the cloaking capability she had hoped for. There weren't parts for that. _So we won't be invisible, just hard to detect on sensors. Well, we can work with that_.  
  
Her omnitool activated. A Turian man in field uniform armor appeared on the screen generated by the device. " _Lieutenant Lucero_?" he inquired.  
  
"Yes," she answered.  
  
" _Doctor Galerius informed me of your problem. I can get you a team that can slip behind enemy lines and hit the Bravo hospital. But your window of opportunity is very short and you need to meet them immediately._ "  
  
"Have them land on the hospital roof." Lucy started moving that way. "And I'll need a few minutes to get the dampening generator hooked into the shuttle's system."  
  
" _You'll have them._ "  
  
While working her way up the stairs leading to the VTOL landing pad roof - currently unoccupied - Lucy felt her heart begin to beat faster. At first she thought it was simple anticipation of the mission, and the dangerous insertion behind enemy lines. But as she thought about it, or rather as she came into tune with that energy that resonated within her, Lucy realized it was something more. Something was going on.  
  
Something about that local man. The way he'd moved. The flicker of recognition that had gone through his features and the sense that he was wary in a way that didn't fit with a normal situation.  
  
Lucy tapped her omnitool's comm key and said, "Lucero to Gillam."  
  
After a few moments Leo responded. " _Gillam here_."  
  
"There's something wrong, Leo," she said. "I can feel it."  
  
" _Can you be more specific?_ "  
  
"There's a man working as a janitor. Brown hair, light complexion, stocky but not overweight. I ran into him earlier and it felt like he was up to something. I mean, as if there's something going on with him."  
  
" _I see. I'll alert building security and ask them about this._ "  
  
"Just be careful until I get back."  
  
" _The same to you, Lucy. Gillam out._ "  
  
By this point Lucy was hearing the high-pitched roar of a mass effect propulsion engine. She looked up in time to see a small assault shuttle fly in and come to a stop on the landing pad. It didn't look like she thought it should, lacking the sharp angles and look of Turian ships.  
  
The explanation came when it opened, and a female figure with purple skin and reddish facial markings stepped down. The Asari was carrying a mass effect rifle affixed to her back and a pistol on her hip. Brilliant blue-gray eyes focused on her. "Fallina," she said. "I'm Fallina Leysi, of the Armali Watch. General Lukasian already briefed us."  
  
"I'll need a few minutes to get this dampener fixed to your systems," Lucy said, holding up the device. "And then we'll be ready to go."  
  
"Right." Leysi showed her in. The cargo area had another six Asari, all armed and looking ready for a fight. "Ever fight with Asari commandos?" she asked.  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, just remember, if we run into trouble, stay back and let us deal with it." Fallina smirked. "These crazy humans never know what hits them when they run into biotics."  
  
Lucy smirked at that. "They never see me coming either. I'm trained in the Gersallian art of _swevyra_." She got on her knees in the rear, at the engine access panel showing on her omnitool display. "Between your biotics and my power, I would almost feel sorry for the SS assholes we run into. But first things first. I need to get this installed."  
  
"We'll lift off as soon as you're ready."  
  
  
  
  
Faqin's first round was in the Standard Care Ward. The majority of the patients were wounded soldiers who were too busy resting or exchanging stories to notice him. He ran his sweeper up one aisle and down the next while trying to maintain the alertness he needed.  
  
He was disappointed by the first white coat he saw. The woman was clearly not one of those he was on the lookout for. She looked over Faqin with momentary curiosity before getting to work on her patients. He paid her no further heed and continued on.  
  
  
  
  
With the other physicians busy or resting, Doctor Crusher was the only one Leo could get in touch with before he got to the small security office for the Hospital. " _Are you certain about this_?" Crusher asked over the comm from her current position in triage. " _Lieutenant Lucero is under pressure like the rest of us. She could have a case of anxiety that is causing paranoia._ "  
  
"Not Lucy," he answered. "If she says there's a problem, she means it. I'm about to check with the security staff about this guy to see who he is. If it's nothing, it's nothing, but if this guy is up to no good we need to be ready."  
  
There was only a moment of silence on the line before Crusher responded. " _Let me know how it goes. I'll be expecting you in Triage. Crusher out._ "  
  
Leo lowered his forearm and continued on his way.  
  
The Field Hospital's security staff had been provided by the military. It was mostly made up of mercenaries, in truth, private contractors hired from a myriad number of sources who by their presence freed up military personnel for other duties. It was easy duty for them given the patients were either walking skeletons or wounded soldiers, with little chance of a merc getting caught up with an unwanted situation of having to restrain someone.  
  
Even the chief of security was one such mercenary. Roger Taylor was a former FedStars Marine, of African-American background like Leo. He kept his head bald. "Can you describe this fellow?" he asked Leo after an initial explanation.  
  
"Brown hair, Caucasian, supposedly stocky."  
  
"Hrm." Taylor brought up his forearm and tapped a key on a multidevice. Leo found it interesting that he hadn't updated to omnitools yet. "Looking at the records, we've got a couple of locals that fit that description. Do you know what he does?"  
  
"Janitor duties, I think."  
  
"Hrm." Taylor went over the list. "Looks like I've got a match. Andre Faqin is the name given." Taylor looked to Leo. "Is there a problem with the man?"  
  
"Lieutenant Lucero reported he was acting suspiciously earlier."  
  
"Suspicious in what way?"  
  
"She didn't explain. But I trust her judgement."  
  
Taylor considered that. "He's a local," the man finally said. "No telling how many locals might have been in bed with the damned Nazis. Probably how some of these poor bastards survived for centuries." Taylor tapped a key on his multidevice and began typing on the resulting hard-light keyboard it projected in front of him, allowing him to use both hands to type with a speed Leo associated with professional secretaries. "I'm putting out an alert to my people to keep a discreet eye on the man. I can't afford the manpower to shadow him completely, you understand. Not without stronger evidence."  
  
"I understand," Leo said. "And I appreciate…"  
  
His omnitool lit up around his left forearm. The voice that spoke was Crusher. " _Doctor Gillam, you're needed in the ICW right away._ "  
  
Leo could waste no time. He knew precisely what that meant. "Sorry," he said to Taylor, an apology for having to cut their meeting short.  
  
"No need, Doctor," the older man said as Leo rushed from the door.  
  
  
  
  
Leo arrived in the Intensive Care Ward and met with Doctor Crusher and Nasri, who were already at the adolescent/early-teen Jane Doe. He walked up and asked, "What's wrong?"  
  
"Steady drop in blood pressure began two minutes ago," Crusher answered. "Scans show her heart is failing. Brain activity is unchanged."  
  
Leo nodded and moved to the other side of the bed. "Our earlier scans showed organ damage at the cellular level." He checked the latest scan results. "We may not have a choice," he said to Crusher. "We might have to replace her heart."  
  
"I agree." Crusher was frowning. "But with all of her other organ problems, her heart may not be the only one she needs replacing. And our raw biomatter stock for the replicators is already running low. This may be a triage situation."  
  
Leo shook his head. "That's not for certain. And I'm not leaving a child to die because she _might_ be unsaveable." He looked over at Nasri. "Get an OR prepped. Tell Dr. Ocasio what to expect."  
  
"Right away, Doctor."  
  
Leo looked to Crusher next. He was trying not to be aggressive, but the challenge he was laying at her doorstep was clear. He was making a call to save the Jane Doe even if it meant defying triage procedure. And it would be up to Crusher to object and seek to overrule him.  
  
Crusher nodded to him. Her hand revealed a hypospray, which she used on the patient. "I'm giving her a stabilizer, it may help."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
There was nothing more to say. The two physicians went back to work trying to save their patient.  
  
  
  
  
Faqin was starting to lose patience. And what's more, he was starting to become paranoid. He couldn't help but feel like everyone was starting to watch him.  
  
This meant he had to be even more careful. Not so much because he believed he had been compromised, but because fear and paranoia could cause him to make sloppy mistakes.  
  
Still, it was better to make sure of things. He needed to confirm if any of the other _Aurora_ personnel were here. The most likely candidate for that was the doctor he had seen before. He thought he remembered the name. Now he just had to have a way to ask about it.  
  
He took his chance at seeing an orderly, another Human. "Have you seen Doctor Gillam?" he asked. His English was atrocious and he was relying on French, suitably translated by whatever means others had. "He had asked me to do extra mopping in the Child Ward, and I need to see if it was covered."  
  
"I'm not sure where he is, but you should probably see to that mopping," the woman answered. "Some of the little tykes are still sick, you see. Poor things can have trouble keeping down food, even half-starving as they are."  
  
"Poor things, yes." Excited, Faqin stepped away. He kept sweeping until he had an opening to slip into a closet. He pulled out his communicator from his belt and opened the line. "There are at least two still here, _Standartenführer_ ," he informed Fassbinder.  
  
" _Good. Be prepared. I will not take long._ "  
  
With that the call ended. Faqin's job had been done. It was time to leave. He opened the door to the closet to walk out.  
  
He never saw the blow that sent him into quiet blackness.  
  
  
  
  
The OR was ready when Leo and Crusher arrived with their stricken patient. Doctor Ocasio met them at the door in OR scrubs. The Hispanic gentleman, with dark bronze complexion and silvery hair still flecked with black strands, helped them move the patient to a surgical bed. "The replicator is building the new heart now," he informed the other two doctors. He said nothing about the issue of triage, much to Leo's gratitude.  
  
"Blood pressure is still falling."  
  
"Get changed."  
  
Leo and Crusher left the entryway and went to the nearby station to switch into operating suits. Ocasio pulled the bed with their patient into the actual operating theater. The protective energy field that helped keep the inside sterile yielded to him and the stretcher in question.  
  
"We don't have a lot of time for this," Crusher said while pulling on the surgical bodysuit. Its pale blue color matched the general coloring of the OR theater and area. "She's a borderline case."  
  
"I know." Leo pulled on his own. "I can manage this with Ocasio and Nasri, if you're worried about the rest of the facility."  
  
"If this is going to be done, I'm going to be there," Crusher insisted. "I want that girl to live as much as you do. But I also want to know that you can make the call if you have to."  
  
Leo met her eyes and said nothing for several seconds, time he spent finishing the securing of his bodysuit. Once it was done, and he was covered head-to-toe in the pale blue material, he finally nodded. "I understand that. And if I have to, I'll make the call."  
  
Crusher nodded, showing her satisfaction. "Let's go, then. We have a lot to do in order to stabilize her."  
  
  
  
  
The Asari combat shuttle penetrated enemy lines in the company of Turian fighters and a supporting wing of Dorei aerospace fighters. The sector was one at the line where the Turian defenses met those of the Free Worlds League's troops, giving Lucy a view of the ten-to-thirty-meter tall BattleMechs stomping along the front, exchanging fire with SS armored vehicles. Tanks from the League rumbled along their taller cousins to provide further fire support.  
  
"We're landing in two minutes," Fallina informed her commandos. The battlesuit-clad Asari all commenced a final check on their firearms. One, a particularly tall Asari, was carrying what Lucy figured to be a full fire assault rifle, and was loaded down with tactical webbing full of specialized containers to carry medical vials securely. Another had a sniper rifle, and the others had smaller weapons, presumably submachine guns and pistols. Fallina had a gun fixed to the small of her back, where Commander Shepard had often carried her shotgun.  
  
Lucy patted at her right hip, where her _lakesh_ was clipped to her field action uniform belt beside the holster carrying her pulse pistol. She drew in a breath and focused. The tension cleared from her mind slowly and allowed her senses to focus, through her power, at the site they were coming in toward.  
  
Even before the side of the shuttle opened up to allow them to jump out, Lucy knew what they were going to find. Bravo had been two-thirds the size of Charlie, but the Field Hospital had still been a sizable prefab structure with multiple entrances. The shuttle had landed them in one of the emergency entrances, for troops being brought in for treatment. "T'Sana, T'Lira, on point," Fallina ordered as the commando team exited the shuttle. Lucy stepped out beside Fallina. "Karina, find your spot."  
  
"Take me up," the Asari with the sniper rifle ordered the pilot. The shuttle pulled away, leaving the rest of the team at the entrance.  
  
The two lead Asari, one holding up a pistol and the other already generating a biotic field around herself, entered the door first. The rest of the team followed. Lucy looked around. There wasn't much in the way of damage to the site. But the emptiness was unsettling. It made her think of zombie movies or other post-apocalyptic films, where the structures of everyday life were made sinister by the lack of life within them.  
  
"No sign of life in the building," the Asari named T'Sana said. She had her omnitool up and active. "It looks abandoned."  
  
"Let's hope they haven't broken into the medicine vault." Lucy nodded to Fallina. "Lead the way."  
  
Fallina made a hand movement and they began to walk through the corridors of the building. They were nearing one of the ward entrances when the stench hit them for the first time. Lucy almost gagged and wished she'd never learned just what it was she was smelling. "Someone must have been left behind," she said to Fallina.  
  
"And the enemy executed them." A hard look crossed the Asari commando leader's face. "Savages."  
  
The stench felt like it was getting more powerful as they drew nearer to their final destination. The door to the secure pharmacy vault was not very different from the other doors. And it certainly wasn't built to resist things like a bank vault's door was. Lucy figured the biotics could blow the door off easily. She probably could force it open with her own abilities.  
  
But at the same time, anything violent might cause damage on the other side of the door. So instead of that choice, Lucy stepped up to it and brought her omnitool online. "This won't take long," she assured the Asari. "I just need a few minutes…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo faces tough decisions while working in a field hospital under Nazi attack.

The operating room was not a place for idle talk. Even though modern medical science had eliminated the need for cutting into a body and all of the delicate work that required, manipulating the inside of any body - whatever the species - was delicate work and would always be so. One wrong move, just one, could cause severe or fatal damage to the patient.  
  
Leo was grateful to feel the cool sponge pressed to his brow to clear off the sweat. His hand remained in precise place, holding the director wand over the chest of the comatose young girl while his other hand utilized the controls that directed the system in what he was doing. They had made four incisions in the chest to accommodate the need for an external pump to circulate blood while this critical part of the operation occurred. With the wand and the attached system Leo was finishing the last cut, removing the sickly, dying heart completely from the girl's overtaxed body.  
  
"Inferior vena cava is now cut," he announced. "Moving on to the superior."  
  
Ocasio was standing nearby, checking the measurements of what Leo was doing against the fresh human heart inside of the replication chamber. With their patient's blood type and cells the heart had been crafted specifically for her body, easing the transplant process and reducing the risk of any sort of rejection. Crusher was across from him monitoring vitals. "Pulse rate is remaining steady," she said.  
  
"Beginning final severance." Using the holo-display projected by the wand, Leo ran the instrument along the superior vena cava. Micro-transporters removed cells and organic matter, effectively cutting the massive blood vessel. Leo kept his movement slow and deliberate, cutting away only as much as he needed to. "Superior vena cava is cut away," he said.  
  
"Activating organ transporter." Crusher pressed a key on a control panel beside her, then several more in sequence. The Jane Doe's heart appeared in a flash of white light in a nearby receptacle. "Preparing to transport replacement. All vitals are still holding steady."  
  
"Transplant is ready," Ocasio said. "All measurements match."  
  
Leo allowed his arm to relax for the moment. Now was the hard part; putting the heart back in and getting it started. He looked to Nasri who ran the sponge on his forehead again, clearing away the sweat again.  
  
"Transporting."  
  
Crusher's gloved finger hit the appropriate key. The systems lined up the new heart and beamed it in, every vessel lining up as was necessary. Leo brought the wand back up and began using the regenerator function. It was the dermal regenerator writ large, carefully calibrated so that the regenerator field was precisely small. The cells of the superior vena cava began to link up to the cells of the heart transplant, reforming the vital vein.  
  
Slowly, precisely, the work continued.  
  
  
  
  
In the abandoned husk of Field Hospital Bravo, Lucy's omnitool whirled around her left hand, hovering over the access control for the pharmaceutical storage vault. One last character, in Latin alphanumerics, was displaying on her omnitool screen. "Here we go…"  
  
A "Y" appeared and the omnitool blinked green on its display. The door slid open.  
  
"Excellent work," said Fallina.  
  
With two exceptions, the Asari commandos followed Lucy into the room. The pharmaceuticals had been only partially removed. Lucy pondered that fact as she examined shelves full of hypospray-compatible vials and pill bottles. "It looks like at least half of the stocks weren't pulled out," she said. "That's a little odd. I know it was an emergency evacuation, but Bravo had time to pull out all of the patients. Why so little of the pharmaceuticals?"  
  
"Miscommunication," proposed one of the other Asari. "Evacuations can be chaotic."  
  
"Yeah." Lucy thought of evacuations and remembered the Facility and the evacuation caused by the Daleks. Everyone had gotten out, but she was sure they'd left behind more than a few things. "But something feels off about this…"  
  
"I think I know why the dextro-meds weren't taken in the evac," Fallina said. Everyone looked to her and to shelving marked with both Latin and Turian alphabetic characters.  
  
The shelves were _empty_.  
  
"What the hell?" Lucy walked up and scanned the area with her omnitool. "This doesn't make sense. Where did they go?"  
  
"Nowhere, according to the Hospital inventory." The computer expert of Fallina's team was operating one of the computer terminals. Lucy thought she remembered the name Niara for the Asari. "They're supposed to be there."  
  
"Then where…" Lucy continued scanning and looking. "Maybe they got misplaced."  
  
"All of them?" Fallina's skepticism was evident in her voice.  
  
"I know, it doesn't seem likely." Lucy smirked. "But you would be surprised what people can misplace when they're not thinking." A thought crossed Lucy's mind. "Niara, isn't it?"  
  
"Niata," corrected the computer expert commando. "Yes?"  
  
"Niata, do you have the inventory codes for the dextro-meds?"  
  
After a moment of checking Niata answered, "I do."  
  
"Transmit them to our omnitools," Lucy said. "Then we'll just scan through the room until we find a hit."  
  
A small grin came to the Asari's face. "I wish I'd thought of that first." The tones of Niata working away on the hardlight keyboard sounded for a few moments. "There we go, I just transmitted the data."  
  
Lucy activated the scanner function on her omnitool and started waving her forearm around. Fallina and the others were copying the same. "Wait," said Fallina. "I think I have something."  
  
Lucy looked to the Asari and followed her scan returns to some of the shelving further in. They converged on it with the others. Lucy read the characters along the shelving side and frowned. "This shelf is for the Dorei-specific medications," she said.  
  
Fallina picked up a vial and scanned it. "This is an antibiotic, dextro-compatible," she said.  
  
"They're all dextro," another of the Asari said, running her omnitool over the entire shelf.  
  
"But look at the labeling," Lucy said. She held one up and read the Latin characters. "This is Turian medication, but it's listed as Dorei."  
  
"That's not right." Fallina was frowning. "The Dorei aren't dextro-compatible, right?"  
  
"No," Lucy said. "They're levo-compatible, just like us."  
  
"Then if this medication had been given to them…"  
  
"...it would either be entirely non-effective, or fatal," another of the Asari said.  
  
Lucy swallowed. No wonder she had felt something was wrong. "This isn't just an accidental mis-shelving," she said. "This is sabotage. Someone was trying to sabotage us from the inside. I mean, think about it. Dorei dying because someone replaced their meds with Turian meds? The Turians would be accusing our people of incompetence, and we'd probably claim the same on their end."  
  
"Reich agents must have gotten in here."  
  
"Maybe." Something about that didn't seem right either. Would the Reich have cared about something so small? Then again, a small-time operative might have just been looking for minor sabotage. "Anyway, we need to get going."  
  
"Selmissima." Fallina looked to the tall Asari with the assault rifle and medical containers. "Let's get these things packed up."  
  
"We'll let the pharmacists back at Charlie sort through them and figure out which medication is which," Lucy said. She sniffed. "Is it just me, or is that smell worse in here?"  
  
Now that they'd found their objective, the stench of dead flesh was something they were noticing more easily. Fallina nodded and agreed. "You can join Niata in looking for the source, if you want." She was already accepting one container from Selmissima. "We'll get the Turian meds secured, and any other meds from the doctors' list we can find."  
  
Lucy nodded and walked back to the computer desk, where Niata was already standing up. The two started exploring further into the vault, toward the rear shelves. "Cold storage is back this way," Niata noted.  
  
"Anything we need from there?"  
  
"There might be a couple meds, but the critical items on our list wasn't listed for cold storage," Niata noted.  
  
"Still…" Lucy felt a tremor within her being, like if she was a living metal detector and cold storage was a piece of metal she was coming into contact with. She followed that sense until they arrived at the heavy metal door. "Is it just me," Lucy began, "or is the smell coming from inside?"  
  
"That wouldn't make sense," Niata said. "The cold storage vault is supposed to be…"  
  
"...sealed." Lucy pointed to the area near the door handle, where there was a clear gap in the frame. "But it's not."  
  
"That… that looks like damage." Niata showed bewilderment. "But that's not from a weapon. It's like something strong gripped so hard that it warped the seal."  
  
That worried Lucy. "I don't see how anyone could have done that. Not with this material."  
  
" _Maybe_ a Krogan," Niata said. " _Maybe_."  
  
More curious than ever, Lucy grabbed the lever lock and pulled it. Niata opened the door.  
  
The stench was almost physical in its intensity. That horrible smell of rotting flesh and waste from a dead body, something Lucy was all too familiar with when raiding nasty places in multiple worlds back in the Facility days, directed them into the cold storage room. The air still had a hint of cold to it, but it was obvious that the cold had been turned off.  
  
"Someone must have shut down the locker during the evacuation," Niata said.  
  
"Or the generator was taken. The vault door's battery backup must have maintained the security system and internal computers, but wasn't enough for the cold storage air conditioning." Lucy activated her omnitool's scanner. Immediately she got a result. "No point in picking up these meds, the lack of cold will have spoiled them. But there's something this way…"  
  
They walked through the dry room, past the shelves of ruined medication, and thus toward the back of the cold storage vault. The smell grew in intensity and rankness as they walked. Lucy wished she had a breather unit, anything to get away from this horrid stench.  
  
The body was in the last row. There was no telling who it, or rather she, had been, just the remains of what looked like a standard medical jumpsuit. Someone had smashed the dead woman's face in with such raw fury that there were no facial features, no jaw or dental remains, that could identify her. There was no hair left either. "Somebody didn't want this woman identified," Niata said.  
  
"At least not quickly." Lucy knelt down beside her. "We need an empty vial. Something to collect biological samples from for DNA analysis." She activated her omnitool's scanning function again and looked to see if it could read the DNA. But her engineering-specialist omnitool had no such function, nor any way to help secure samples.  
  
Niata leaned over with what looked like silk in her hand. She dabbed the cloth in the dried blood of the woman's ruined face. But it wouldn't take. Not to be deterred, Niata took her combat knife from her waist and began scraping at the blood. The scrapings she put in the silk cloth before tying it into a bag. Seeing Lucy's look, Niata smiled. "I had a lover who's in C-Sec. He told me a few stories about evidence collection on the sly."  
  
Lucy, meanwhile, had her own idea. She took a tool from her belt, a powered bolt wrench, and scraped the edge along the visible flesh of the dead woman's arm. Dead skin cells, pale bronze in coloration, flaked off under the strength of the scraping. Lucy made sure to collect an ample amount of dead skin before she stood up. _Too bad I don't have an evidence bag or something_ , she thought to herself.  
  
Just as the two emerged from the cold storage part of the vault, Fallina's omnitool activated. "What is it?" she asked. "Given your faces, whatever you found wasn't good news."  
  
"Nothing from cold storage. The climate control was off." Lucy frowned. "And we found a dead woman in there who had her face turned to hamburger."  
  
Fallina frowned and shook her head. "It may be linked to our medical saboteur."  
  
"That's it," said Selmissima. She stood up with the last container and thrust it into Niata's hands. "We have everything we can carry."  
  
"It's time for extraction." Fallina gestured to the door while triggering her omnitool. "Karina, Casari, we're ready to get out."  
  
" _We're clear of enemy forces here, ma'am, but I suggest you hurry._ "  
  
"Why?" Fallina asked.  
  
" _Because we just got word from General Lukasian. The enemy's just launched a new attack._ " The sniper's voice remained matter-of-fact. " _It looks like they're trying to pound their way through to New Rennes. And Hospital Charlie is right on their line of advance_."  
  
"We're on our way." Fallina gestured forward. "Come on, huntresses, double time! You too, Lieutenant Lucero, and I hope you can keep up."  
  
Lucy, despite the situation, grinned at that. "Funny," she said, "I was about to suggest the same to you."  
  
And she began running with them, keeping pace with almost contemptuous ease.  
  
  
  
  
Leo had made it through to the last attachment, the aorta itself, when the machines began beeping.  
  
"Her vitals just dropped. Respiration rate and O2 levels are lowering."  
  
"I've almost got it." Leo continued running the wand along, directing the tissue regenerator to bind the new heart to the Jane Doe's aorta. "Just another minute."  
  
"She may not have a minute."  
  
Leo nodded at Crusher. Sweat dripped dangerously close to his eye. "Sponge," he said, and Nasri immediately tended to him.  
  
"I'm setting the oxygenation rate of her blood higher." Crusher was back at work. "But it looks like her lungs may be failing."  
  
"Do we have any dizaproregene ready?"  
  
Crusher gave him a harsh look. "With how weak her body is, dizaproregene is enormously dangerous."  
  
"A measure of last resort," Leo said, even as he focused on reconnecting the aorta.  
  
There was no reply from Crusher about that. Leo wasn't surprised. He knew that if he was turning to dizap, the girl was already likely to die. But doing anything less seemed criminal.  
  
"Honestly, if you get to that point, we're facing the triage question."  
  
Leo refused to look her way. He wanted to. He wanted to look into Crusher's eyes and see if there was pain there, or resolve, or guilt. "You think we'd be wasting it?"  
  
"In our resource situation? Yes, Doctor, if you use dizaproregene on this patient, it will be a waste. Her survival chances are already going too low to justify it."  
  
"She'll stabilize as soon as we get this heart pumping." Leo remained focused on that task. _Almost there_ …  
  
A very low tone came from their omnitools. Ocasio was the only one who could safely check his. "There's an emergency alert," he said. "Doctor Galerius needs us in Triage within the next ten minutes."  
  
"We'll be done by then," Leo said. "One way or another."  
  
"What's the alert?" Crusher asked.  
  
Leo couldn't afford to turn and look at Ocasio. He couldn't see the grim look on the Hispanic doctor's face. "The enemy has thrown more troops into the battle," Ocasio said. "They may be advancing on the hospital."  
  
The gulp nearly finished forming in Leo's throat. But he wouldn't let it. One crisis at a time. That's all he could deal with.  
  
  
  
  
Fallina was the last to jump into the shuttle on the hospital roof. In the distance Lucy could see small forms moving toward the hospital. Forms too large, at this distance, to be ordinary soldiers. "Looks like we just missed a fight with _Panzergrenadiers_."  
  
"They make a mess inside of those suits if you hit them with the right biotic combination," one of the Asari - T'Sani? - said.  
  
Lucy was already feeling sick from smelling the dead bodies in the hospital. That mental image was something she wasn't eager to contemplate, not even for Nazis. She glared at the Asari in question.  
  
Fallina was already on comms, reporting their success and issuing a security alert. "We need to find everyone who handled logistics in the Bravo Hospital," she was saying to the images of General Lukasian and General Chaganam on the wall of the shuttle's passenger compartment. The Turian general had joined Chaganam, in the field uniform of a Free Worlds League officer, at the main HQ for the Coalition forces on New Brittany. "Someone labeled the dextro meds with labels as Dorei-specific medications."  
  
Both commanders gave her an uncomfortable look. " _I am no physician, but wouldn't that be poisonous to the Dorei troops?_ " Chaganam asked.  
  
" _It would_ ," Lukasian confirmed. The Turian's concern was clear. " _Either poisonous or completely ineffective. Either way, dozens of Dorei soldiers might have died if Bravo hadn't been evacuated_."  
  
"Someone might be attempting to interfere with our alliance." Lucy stepped up beside Fallina. "Someone trying to turn us against each other."  
  
" _The Nazis having agents in the planetary population is the most likely cause_."  
  
Chaganam had made a good point. But something about this felt _familiar_ to Lucy. Something was nagging at her about this.  
  
" _That's a priority for later_." Lukasian raised a three-fingered hand and gestured as if to move away the issue. " _Right now you're needed back at Hospital Charlie. A fresh enemy division is moving into the area._ "  
  
" _The 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Legionnaires is in position to counter-attack them on that front. But we may not be able to keep them out of the hospital grounds. And there's not nearly enough time for an evacuation._ "  
  
Lucy didn't need Chaganam to say more. The SS, if they got into the Hospital, would start killing patients and medical staff left and right. There would be no mercy. _Leo, Nasri, Hargert, they're all in the line of fire_.  
  
"We'll do what we can to protect the patients, General," Fallina pledged.  
  
" _Spirits go with you. HQ out_." Lukasian cut the line.  
  
"You all heard that," said Fallina. "As soon as we get back to that hospital, we'll find a defensive position and coordinate with hospital security."  
  
Lucy found herself nodding with the others. Now she _really_ regretted not wearing her body armor.  
  
  
  
  
Leo felt a surge of misplaced relief when the last strands of regenerated tissue finished linking the Jane Doe's aorta to her new heart. "Okay. Let's begin cardio stimulation and get this heart going."  
  
"Her O2 levels are still in decline."  
  
Leo nodded to accept that while Doctor Ocasio manned the cardial stimulation device. Using remote, wireless receivers placed into the transplanted heart, the machine began to jolt the muscles in the replicated organ to bring it into operation.  
  
Of course, this was the trickiest moment of the operation. There was no one hundred percent guarantee the new heart would function. Anything from a flaw at the cellular level to too much energy through the stimulator could keep the heart from starting to beat. And if that happened, the patient would die, pure and simple.  
  
"Beginning stimulation," Ocasio said. "Cutting power flow… no response."  
  
"Again."  
  
"Respiratory rate is in decline." Crusher shook her head. "It looks like cellular damage to the lung has shut down several bronchi clusters."  
  
Leo couldn't hide his frustration at that. Whatever had been done to this girl, the cellular damage was clearly the worst in terms of her ability to live. _How did they manage this? Was this a new Nazi weapon?_  
  
"Still no response to cardial stimulation."  
  
"Again," Leo said simply. They had a few more tries left, certainly. But once he was past the sixth… no, no, that wouldn't happen. This wouldn't be for nothing.  
  
"EEG readings are declining."  
  
"Push the oxylin."  
  
"20ccs." Crusher did so.  
  
"Third pulse. Still no autonomous heartbeat."  
  
"Again."  
  
"Even if her new heart starts beating, her lungs may not last," Crusher warned.  
  
"5ccs of dizaproregene will deal with that."  
  
There was disapproval in Crusher's eyes. "That's too much. Her system won't handle it."  
  
"Anything less and she won't regain enough lung function."  
  
"Then call it," Crusher said.  
  
"Fourth pulse. Still no response."  
  
Ocasio's report was met with an immediate "Again". Leo didn't take his eyes off Crusher's. There was challenge in them. She could overrule him. She could assert her seniority as a physician, as a medical officer, and order Ocasio to give up. Ocasio could make the same call, although as a civilian volunteer physician with little surgical experience, his authority over them was more uncertain.  
  
But she didn't.  
  
There was silence as they waited to hear from Ocasio on whether this worked. If it didn't, Crusher would be right. A sixth attempt might work, but at this point, if the heart wouldn't start… Leo knew it would be the end. And Galerius, Lang, and the others needed them out in Triage. Especially with combat casualties coming in.  
  
If there was no response, Leo would have to give up. He would have to let another child die.  
  
And it was clear that Crusher could see how much pain that thought was causing him.  
  
"Fifth pulse." Ocasio's voice made clear the result.  
  
Leo let out a breath. His heart began to ache.  
  
"Wait." Now Ocasio's voice picked up. "I am getting a response. The heart is beating. 70 beats per second."  
  
This time Leo's exhalation was one of relief. Relief that was not entirely earned.  
  
"The O2 count still isn't stabilizing," Crusher said. "The damage to the lungs is too extensive."  
  
"Do you have the 5ccs of dizaproregene?" Leo's question hung in the air for a moment, even as the machines toned away in relation to the dying girl on the bed. "It may be our last chance."  
  
Crusher looked at him intently. "You could kill her."  
  
"She's dying already."  
  
Crusher clearly went to say something but stopped herself. Her mouth moved as she played out the conversation to come. Leo could see she was not convinced this was the best way to deal with the situation. Every minute they were fighting to save a girl who might never wake up was a minute they weren't saving the lives of soldiers and civilians coming into their hospital. Leo knew that if she made the decision to withhold the medication, it was medically justified. It was perhaps one even he would make one day.  
  
Crusher, in the end, did not assert seniority. She simply reached over to a medical tray, pulled the appropriate vial out, and after a moment placed the hypospray over the girl's neck on the jugular vein. A very slight, virtually inaudible hiss sounded and the vial emptied its contents right into the Jane Doe's body.  
  
For several seconds there was no response. The only sound in the OR was the machine reading the patient's heart beat and neural activity. Leo felt almost numb with tension. Possibilities raced through his head. Had he done everything right? Had he made the right calls? Had he wasted time and resources on someone who simply couldn't be saved? Was he, even now, causing deaths by not giving this up?  
  
 _Dear God, please_ , he pleaded in his mind and in his heart. _Please, I've done everything I can._ He put his hand on the girl's shoulder, as if to wake her. _Please_.  
  
"Doctor Gillam." The sound of Crusher's voice led him to look her way. Her eyes had a gentle look to them now, and the same was true with her voice. "There's nothing more we can do. It's out of our hands now. We should go."  
  
"Doctor Crusher is right." Ocasio spoke up next. "I will stay and monitor her condition, but you are needed in Triage."  
  
Leo closed his eyes. He needed to. They felt so heavy. His heart felt like a heavy lump in his chest. All he could think about was if he did something wrong, if he missed something, if he had failed to save this girl…  
  
"Right," he breathed. "I'm sorry."  
  
"I know. We're all tired."  
  
Leo drew in a breath and nodded to Crusher and to Ocasio. "Let's go."  
  
  
  
  
The assault shuttle was flying in low and fast, a dark shape with low-slung engine nacelles against the debris of the countryside outside New Rennes. From his place of prominence in the cockpit behind the co-pilot, Fassbinder observed with appreciation the burning remains of enemy war machines and soldiers. One of the F1S1 "BattleMechs" was a broken mess zooming by on his right, undoubtedly victim to SS Panzers.  
  
They were arranged ahead, those same machines. Tracked with anti-grav backup mobility, large disruptor cannons mounted on turrets much like the old chem-propelled tank guns of Hitler's panzers, the same panzers that had conquered wide swaths of Eurasia and Africa for the banner of the _Hakenkreuz_. SS lighting bolts and that same _Hakenkreuz_ were displayed proudly on the turrets of the war machines, as they were on the great armored _Panzergrenadier_ soldiers fighting alongside them.  
  
Ahead of the shuttle, SS aerospace bombers already blasting enemy troops. One of the bombers blew apart after taking a mass effect-propelled anti-air shell from one of the Turian AA emplacements. Said gun blew up seconds later from another bomber's attack.  
  
" _Gruppenführer_ Fischer has a new alert, sir," the co-pilot said. "Orbital visuals confirm that an enemy force is moving to counter-attack. Our troops may not make it to the target."  
  
"Then we will make do." Fassbinder looked back to his men, a squad of four _Panzergrenadiers_ and two squads of light combat-armored _Stosstruppen_ from the Waffen SS. "Remember the briefing. Our primary objective are those individuals. They must not be killed."  
  
"And the _untermenschen_?" asked a _Unterscharführer_.  
  
"Consider them a secondary target of opportunity." Fassbinder smirked. The hospital loomed ahead. "If we must, we'll leave some alive in order to secure the targets. If we have the chance… exterminate them."  
  
  
  
  
Leo and Nasri were working together as the combat casualties came in. A Free Worlds League MechWarrior was the next to be brought up. Leo looked over the woman's plentiful cuts and lacerations, creating angry red splotches of blood on dark skin, and immediately ordered Nasri to administer a painkiller while he examined the scan. "Injuries consistent with a partial canopy collision. Blood loss is severe but not critical, no critical damage to organs… but it looks like the toxic coolant in her cooling vest got into her bloodstream. Mark yes and send her to Doctor Lang for priority chelation and synthblood transfusion."  
  
The next patient was a Turian trooper with disruptor burns. Leo was in the middle of marking her to be treated when the first explosion sounded outside.  
  
The Triage Ward entrance was controlled chaos at the best of times. But clear panic was coming as some of the orderlies, heading out with medics to bring in more cases, returned screaming. "We're under attack!" one voice shouted, then another.  
  
Galerius straightened up from where she was treating another Turian. "What's wrong? What's going on?"  
  
"Enemy assault craft, they're landing outside of the hospital!"  
  
As she demanded to know how many, Leo thought back to what Lucy had said. That she'd been worried about something. His finger went for his omnitool's comm key. "Gillam to Security, I need defense teams to Triage Ward, now! They're attacking the hospital!"  
  
" _Teams already on their way_."  
  
"Evacuate the Triage Ward, now!" Crusher was in motion as well. Orderlies and nurses, including Nasri, began to grab beds and push them toward the door.  
  
Leo ran over to join her. He took the bed of the MechWarrior he'd examined barely a minute before and pushed her to the door, where a Turian medic took her and moved her on. He turned back into the Triage Ward as, from the far hall, armed security troopers appeared at the door and moved on toward the exit leading to the main entrance.  
  
They barely got there when an explosion blasted through the wall and sent them flying. German-accented voices screamed, "Stop! Stop or you will be shot!" Leo watched as a hulking set of powered armor, one of the _Panzergrenadiers_ , stomped into the Triage Ward beside men in combat armor.  
  
A hand grabbed him and pulled him into cover behind an overturned bed. Crusher and Nasri were in cover with him, as was a League soldier with a tourniquet around his wounded leg. From behind cover Leo heard more shouts and weapons fire. He turned his head in time to see a disruptor beam shoot a fleeing Turian medic in the back. He was vaporized instantly.  
  
"Cease fire and you will not be harmed!" a voice cried out.  
  
Leo felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He couldn't keep the shock off his face. "I know that voice," he murmured.  
  
"What?" Crusher looked at him.  
  
"It's him." Leo was still having trouble believing it. "Fassbinder. He's alive."  
  
"Attention," the voice continued. Now it was booming over the hospital PA system. "I am _Standartenführer_ Fassbinder of the _Schutzstaffel._ I am here to collect several noted enemies of the German Reich. That is my only purpose, and if my mission succeeds, I will leave you without further harm."  
  
Leo felt his throat go dry. He already had a feeling who Fassbinder was after. It would explain the spy, after all.  
  
"I am aware that among you are members of the crew of the Alliance vessel _Aurora_ ," Fassbinder continued. "In particular, I seek two officers. Doctor Leonard Gillam and Lieutenant Lucilla Lucero. Upon their surrender I will leave and the SS will spare the remaining staff and patients of this facility. For every minute that I am defied, my troops will execute one of your people."  
  
Leo swallowed. Lucy wasn't here. She was still out with those Asari commandos. Fassbinder would never be satisfied with that. He was about to kill innocent people.  
  
Nasri looked to Leo and frowned. "Don't," she urged.  
  
"I can't let him kill anyone," Leo said. "Maybe he'll be satisfied with me."  
  
"You don't know that." Crusher shook her head. "He might kill you instead."  
  
"No." Leo shook his head. "No, I think he wants us alive. He wants me alive." Leo activated his omnitool and started operating the comm channel. "Without a ship in orbit we're limited by comm range, but I'm hoping Lucy will pick this up."  
  
" _Unterscharführer_ , execute a prisoner."  
  
" _Jawohl_."  
  
Leo immediately rose above the bed and shouted, "Wait!"  
  
One of the infantryman had been about to shoot a Turian medic in the head. But he didn't. All eyes turned toward Leo.  
  
Leo, in turn, was looking right at Fassbinder. The SS man smirked. "Ah, Doctor Gillam," he said. "It has been a while."  
  
"Not nearly long enough for me," Leo grumbled. "I guess you survived your fall at Gamma Piratus."  
  
"Transporter enhancers are useful, _ja_?" Fassbinder looked around the room. "Where is Lucero?"  
  
"Not here."  
  
"No?" Fassbinder's smug smirk became more of a smug grin. "My agent saw her earlier today."  
  
"Andre Faqin."  
  
The name drew no response from Fassbinder. "Where is she, _Herr Doktor_?"  
  
"Like I said, she's not here," Leo said. "She went out into the field."  
  
"Really?" Fassbinder made a show of looking at his timepiece. "You know, your minute is almost up."  
  
"I can prove she's not here," Leo said. "The hospital logs will show her leaving."  
  
"Logs are so easily doctored, though. And I'm afraid I don't have the means at hand to discern real records from fake." Fassbinder looked to his watch. "Five… four… three…"  
  
The far door opened again. Leo looked that way and shook his head. _No_ …  
  
Fassbinder looked to the door. A brief smirk turned into a scowl. "The gelding," he grumbled.  
  
Hargert walked into the Triage Ward still wearing his cooking apron. The old man had a faint, deceptively-welcoming grin on his face as he took another step into the Ward. "The monster," he retorted.  
  
"What are you doing here, old fool?"  
  
"You demanded my presence, did you not?" Hargert stopped walking. "I am a crewmember of the _Aurora_ , the same as the good _Doktor_."  
  
Fassbinder laughed at that. "You are a pitiful old gelding, a failure to your Race, a mere _cook_."  
  
Hargert put a hand to his heart. "Oh, such an insult. I am no mere cook."  
  
"No." Leo felt a warmth in his voice that matched the warmth in his heart. A warmth only equaled by his fear. "He's not."  
  
Fassbinder drew a disruptor pistol from his belt holster. "Where is Lucero?" He held the gun up to Hargert.  
  
"She is not here."  
  
"I will shoot you, traitor."  
  
"Then shoot." Hargert shook his head. "Do you think I am afraid of you, monster? No. I meant what I said before, SS man. _Nie weider_. We will never be afraid of you and your filth again. And we will not stop fighting until the German people of this universe are free of you, just as we have been for centuries."  
  
Hargert said nothing further. Leo looked from him to Fassbinder. He was tense with anger and hate and the look in his eye told Leo he wanted to shoot Hargert right then and there. "Just wait!" Leo shouted. "She'll be back soon!"  
  
Fassbinder didn't react immediately. Slowly, with visible surprise to his subordinates, he lowered the gun and returned it to his holster. Leo breathed a sigh of relief, even as he wondered why the SS man had stopped.  
  
That relief turned to outright confusion a moment later when the smirk reappeared on Fassbinder's face.  
  
The SS man brought up his gloved right hand and held it toward Hargert. His fingers looked like he was trying to grip a wire between his thumb and his index and middle finger. His blue eyes locked onto Hargert with an intensity that seemed bizarre for the moment.  
  
A hacking, choking sound came from the old cook. Leo turned and watched in shock as Hargert's hands went up to his throat. He slouched over, as if about to fall to his knees, sharp wheezes and choking sounds coming from his throat. Finally he went down to his knees.  
  
A low, satisfied chuckle came from Fassbinder's throat. "I will enjoy this," he rasped.  
  
  
  
  
Leo wasn't the only one watching Fassbinder.  
  
Inside the Asari-crewed shuttle, Lucy stared at the screen in shock. "That's… oh God," she gasped.  
  
Fallina was watching with her own sense of profound surprise. "How is he doing that?" she asked Lucy. "That's not biotics."  
  
"He's using life energy like I do," she answered. "But wrong. Twisted and dark." Lucy brought up her forearm and began entering commands into her omnitool as it came to life. "And if he sees us coming we're screwed. I need to distract him."  
  
"With what?" Selmissima asked.  
  
"Something unexpected," Lucy replied.  
  
  
  
  
" _Herr Standartenführer_?" one of the SS field men asked, showing utter confusion.  
  
"How is he doing that?" Crusher asked from behind the bed.  
  
"Stop!" Leo cried out.  
  
"This is the power you deny," rasped Fassbinder. Sweat was pouring down his forehead and toward his eyes. His face was turning red from sheer effort. "Do you not feel death coming, gelding? Don't you fear it? The pitch dark that you belong in, traitor? You and your kind… you false Germans… I will cast you all into that endless void! You deserve only oblivion!" A trickle of blood started to flow down from Fassbinder's nostrils.  
  
Hargert went down to all fours. His lips were turning blue.  
  
Leo tensed up. He wondered if he could break the choke hold by knocking Hargert away. He didn't think he could make it to Fassbinder before his men opened fire. "Please don't kill him," Leo pleaded. "Whatever you want us for, you can use him for too."  
  
Fassbinder didn't seem to care. He kept his death grip up. Leo watched as his eyes seemed to flash from blue to gold for a moment, just a moment. And it seemed certain that Fassbinder would keep that grip until Hargert was dead.  
  
And that there was nothing Leo could do about it.  
  
Several meters away, a humanoid form coalesced into existence. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency," asked the EMH. The hologram looked around with befuddlement.  
  
Fassbinder's head whipped around to face the sudden newcomer. His concentration slipped and with it his grip on Hargert. "What is this?" Fassbinder demanded while Hargert began to breathe again.  
  
"I could ask the same." The EMH looked over the invaders. "Bringing firearms into the triage ward is strictly prohibited outside of security personnel."  
  
One of the SS troopers held up a scanner. " _Herr Standartenführer_ , this is a hologram."  
  
Fassbinder opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted as another ripple in mid-air coalesced into a second EMH. "What is the nature of the medical…" The second EMH looked at the first, his identical twin. "This is not appropriate use of my program," the second EMH complained.  
  
Leo fought to keep a grin off his face. _Lucy_ was the thought that went through his head.  
  
"Destroy them!" Fassbinder shouted. At that command disruptor beams struck both holograms. Their forms were distorted by the blasts until they faded away.  
  
After a moment, both promptly reappeared. "That really isn't necessary," one stated.  
  
Fassbinder clenched a fist and drew his gun.  
  
That was when the wall exploded.  
  
  
  
  
The commando shuttle flew right up to the side of the Hospital before Fallina and her team jumped from the side. In cooperation with each other, the Asari commando unit generated a massive biotic pulse that blew the first floor wall down completely.  
  
In that moment of surprise, Lucy raced forward. Her _lakesh_ extended to its full length with a sharp metallic shriek. She cleared the fallen wall and the dust, and even as they started to react, she was on top of the SS troopers. Her blade cut cleanly through the arms of one, causing him to cry out as his dismembered limbs, and the gun they carried, hit the ground. She twisted and slashed out again, a cut that found the neck of a second foe, and a third swipe took the legs of the next.  
  
Sensing the intentions of the nearest armored _Panzergrenadier_ , Lucy twisted slightly and avoided a kill-shot from the machine's arm-mounted disruptor. A fourth SS trooper disappeared in a surge of green energy that consumed him, a victim of that miss. She reached out with a hand and let the power within her reach out as well. Her power gripped the armored trooper and sent him flying into a second armored trooper. Both went to the floor.  
  
The third and fourth of the enemy armored troops might have gotten her, but they were already facing a new problem, made clear by the dark matter energy that had formed around them, locking them in place. Two of Fallina's Asari maintained the stasis fields while Selmissima, the tall one with the assault rifle, was sending the light combat-suited infantry scurrying for cover. The two stunned armored troops were left sitting ducks to Niata, who was already ripping the weapons off of one with biotic fields.  
  
Lucy at last turned to Fassbinder. Hearing his voice over the comms, seeing him in the visual channel, that had been enough of a shock. But sensing him, _feeling_ the malevolent cold of his active power, was worse. The idea that the Reich was starting to look for these powers and to train their own, especially SS, in their use… that was a threat that made her stomach churn. The things that these evil men could do with that power, the ease with which darkness could corrupt them...  
  
Fassbinder started to level his gun toward Hargert. "I'll kill the old…"  
  
Fassbinder's threat against Hargert's life stopped abruptly when Lucy thrust an open palm toward him. The power of the energy within her followed her will. Invisible force slammed into the SS man and sent him flying into the nearest wall.  
  
"Lucy, look out!"  
  
Leo's warning coincided with the sense of danger Lucy felt within. She swung to her right with her _lakesh_ and caught the disruptor beam before it could vaporize her. The beam reflected off her _lakesh_ and hit one of the SS troopers. He was blasted back and hit the ground, unmoving.  
  
The trooper who fired never fired again. Fallina crashed into him in a flash of dark blue energy. The biotics-powered charge sent the SS soldier flying into the nearest wall, where he fell and stopped moving.  
  
Fallina turned and faced one of the _Panzergrenadiers_ currently aiming toward her soldiers. The shotgun in her hands went off and blew a massive hole through the torso plate of the enemy powered armor suit. It collapsed to the ground. Fallina turned and fired a shot that caused an SS infantryman's torso to explode in a messy way.  
  
The loss of the fourth and last of the _Panzergrenadiers_ was to the combined biotics of two of the Asari commandos. Intense dark matter forces rippled and coiled over the armored suit until it began to tear away. The weapons went down, and defenses, and soon the entire suit was in tatters and the pilot within exposed. A single gunshot from one of the Asari put him down.  
  
The remaining SS forces, deprived of their heavy support, retreated from the Triage Ward. Fallina spoke into her comm. "What's our status?"  
  
" _They're retreating for their shuttle_ ," her pilot replied.  
  
Lucy almost celebrated until she felt the change in the atmosphere. Or, more accurately, the lack of presence. She turned to where she had thrown Fassbinder, just to find that he was gone. "Did anyone see where their commander went?" she asked.  
  
"I thought I saw him run toward the interior of the hospital." The reply was from one of the orderlies in the room. "But I can't be sure."  
  
Lucy frowned and tried to focus on her senses, on her energy, to feel his presence. Given the malevolent nature of it, it would stick out like a sore thumb.  
  
"I think he's this way," she said to the others. "This way."  
  
"T'Sani, Niata, with us, the rest of you, stay and help with wounded." Fallina hefted her shotgun and followed Lucy into the hospital.  
  
  
  
  
Fassbinder felt shame and rage burn inside of him as he ran further into the hospital. Months of training, of pushing his limits, all of his work… and he was still weak compared to Lucero. He would be the laughing stock of the SS for this defeat.  
  
 _Perhaps not all is in vain_ , he thought. _Perhaps I can hold out until our main force arrives_. He knew that was a long shot at best, but he would not give up. Not on this. He was so close to getting what he needed. His plan was all laid out. And he would find his destiny with it  
  
Fassbinder was so busy he didn't see the closet door nearby slide open. As he walked past it his senses came alive with warning. Curious and concerned, he turned toward the door with a hand going to his pistol.  
  
That was when the force hit him, full strength, and sent him into unconsciousness.  
  
  
  
  
The sense of malevolence went away. Lucy stopped where she was and looked around. "Oh come on," she muttered before concentrating. He had to be out there.  
  
But try as she might, Lucy felt nothing.  
  
"Dammit," she grumbled.  
  
"What is it?" Fallina and her team approached.  
  
"I lost him. It's… where could he have gone?" Lucy began looking around again. "We'll need to put up a watch. He's too dangerous to be ignored."  
  
"I'll get in contact with Security," said Fallina. "But if you ask me, I think he took off to the nearest exit. He knows he's a dead man if we find him."  
  
"True." But something about that didn't sit right. Lucy had a feeling that Fassbinder, whatever had happened, was somewhere else, or had some other plan.  
  
And she already knew this would not be the last they'd seen of the SS man, whatever happened.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo faces tough decisions while working in a field hospital under Nazi attack.

It was starting to get dark outside when Leo finally had a moment to step away from the Triage Ward. Even with Alpha getting most of the casualties during their difficulties, enough had come in from the nearby fighting to keep all of the doctors busy while the mess from the attack still had to be cleaned up.  
  
He knew Lucy and Hargert were waiting for him in the mess, but he had another stop to make first. He returned to the Intensive Care Ward.  
  
An Asari nurse met him at the door. "Jane Doe #3," he said. "The adolescent girl. Is she here?" As he said the words his heart pounded with fear. Despite all of the excitement of the SS attack he hadn't forgotten about his biggest effort of the day. He hadn't stopped wondering if she had recovered, or if all of his work had been for nothing.  
  
As those thoughts went through his head, the Asari nurse was looking over the list. "I'm not seeing a Jane Doe #3…"  
  
Leo's heart plunged into his stomach.  
  
"Wait… oh, there she is. Zahra Mercier."  
  
That brought Leo to stare in shock. "Wait, we have her name?" he asked. "How…?"  
  
"She's awake, Doctor," the Asari answered. "She woke up about two hours ago."  
  
With his heart hammering in surprise and joy, Leo thanked the Asari and ventured into the ward.  
  
The young girl with the new heart looked asleep when Leo stepped up beside her bed, in the curtain-covered alcove assigned to her. It was only when he sat down that she moved. Her eyes opened slightly, enough to show their deep brown color. " _Monsieur Docteur_ ," she said, and Leo's auto-translator rendered it into "Mister Doctor" accordingly.  
  
Leo thought his mouth was going to go dry when he asked, "How are you feeling?"  
  
Zahra blinked and tried to move an arm. She managed it just enough that her hand came off the bed. Leo took it. "Weak," she finally said.  
  
"That's not surprising. Your body took a lot of damage. We gave you a new heart earlier today."  
  
That was answered with a weak nod. "I thought I was to die. The… the blast… wave… I do not know the word?"  
  
For a moment Leo considered telling her to stop speaking, to conserve her strength. But he stopped himself. She _needed_ to speak, it seemed. Needed to share what had happened. "If you want to tell me what happened, I'm ready," Leo said.  
  
"Can I have a drink first? I am thirsty."  
  
Leo stood and reached for the tray the nurses had thoughtfully left, with a plastic cup and an insulated pitcher of cool water. He poured her enough for a drink and brought the cup up to her lips. Her arm tried to intercept the cup to take the drink for herself, but the limb - horrifying in its bone-thinness - flopped onto her belly. Leo was left to pour the water carefully into her waiting lips, giving her time to swallow each sip until she nodded and he pulled the cup away. "How is that?"  
  
"Better." Zahra licked at her lips. It was painful to see a girl her age in the shape she was in, bone-thin and nearly a living skeleton. Even after days of seeing these patients, it still hurt Leo to think of the suffering that went with such a condition. "The _Boche_ … they did something. There was a… a thing in the barracks. On the ceiling. It lit up."  
  
Leo nodded. "Okay. Do you mind if I share this with others, Zahra? If you do, I won't. I'm your doctor, anything you tell me stays between us unless you tell me to share it."  
  
"Please do. Please tell everyone," Zahra insisted, with as much heat as her voice could manage. "Something in the ceiling. I saw it light up. Mama… Mama pushed me to the door. She screamed for me to get out. I ran. I was the first to run. I remember a loud noise, like a thunderclap, and I looked back…" Zahra's eyes opened more, and it was clear it was from horror at the memory. "There was a… wave… a blast… energy… it hit people and they fell. I kept running. I didn't want it to hit me."  
  
She went silent for a moment. Leo took her hand and waited patiently for her to continue.  
  
"And then I had… pain. In my belly. My heart. It hurt so much." Tears formed in her eyes. "I tried to scream but nothing would move. I just fell over. I… I thought I was going to die. And then I felt nothing. And I woke up here."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"My parents, my uncle and cousin… they are dead?" The way she said it, it was clear Zahra was already certain of it.  
  
Leo sighed and nodded. "Yes, I think. We found four remains in the mass grave with genetic relation to you. You may be the only survivor of that barracks. I'm sorry."  
  
The look on Zahra's face didn't change for a moment. Tears formed in her eyes as the impact of the confirmation hit home for her. Her face twisted into visible pain a moment before she began to weep softly.  
  
There were all sorts of things Leo could have said. He could have expressed further condolences. He could have promised that he would help her (and he would, to the best of his ability). He could have encouraged her to live for her slain family.  
  
He said nothing. All he did was hold her hand. Because, for that moment, he knew it was the only right thing he could do.  
  
  
  
  
After Zahra cried herself to sleep and Leo saw to her further treatments for the evening, he went to the mess hall. He barely had time to sit before Hargert was at his side, bearing a bowl of sausage stew and a plate of salad. Seeing (and smelling) the fine food made Leo realize how long it had been since he ate, and his stomach growled in anticipation. Leo took to both in alternating bites.  
  
Lucy joined them a moment later. "There you are," she said, putting down her half-finished bowl of sausage stew.  
  
"How is your patient?" asked Hargert.  
  
Leo swallowed a bite of salad. "Alive. Grief-stricken. Her name is Zahra Mercier."  
  
"Poor girl." Hargert nodded. He looked none the worse for wear given the day's events.  
  
"What you did today, Hargert…" Leo put his utensils down and looked directly at the man. "...he would have killed you. Hell, I think he hates you the most of all."  
  
Hargert answered that with a thin smile. "I knew he might kill me. I simply had faith that the rest of you might stop him." He directed the smile at Lucy, who smiled back. "Thank you, _Fraulein_."  
  
"You don't have to, Hargert," Lucy said. "It's what I'm here for." She frowned. "What worries me is that he was using powers like ours. The Gersallian _swevyra_ , I mean."  
  
"After seeing you and Rob and Meridina using it, he must have gotten some ideas."  
  
Lucy nodded at Leo's suggestion. "And because of what he is… he's already being corrupted by it. He's falling into darkness. That's going to make him all the more dangerous."  
  
"Assuming the SS does not punish him for failing today," Hargert said. "We have beaten him twice now."  
  
A sick feeling was swirling in Lucy's gut at that. "Did we?" she asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Did we stop him, Hargert?" Lucy looked to him. "I… if I remember SS rank structure right from our intel briefings, his new rank is higher than his older one. He's been _promoted_ since Gamma Piratus. Why would they promote him when we beat him?"  
  
Hargert's smiled vanished. So did Leo's. "We need to tell Rob and the others," Leo said. "And Admiral Maran. You don't think he could have taken anything from the Facility, do you?"  
  
"I don't know," Lucy said. "I mean, from what I remember, none of his teams actually secured the computer cores, and they didn't get the control room. Not entirely. But maybe they got something…"  
  
"I would think so too." Hargert was frowning now. "How else has he been promoted?"  
  
"Dammit." Lucy rubbed at her forehead. "And then there's the other thing."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The issue with the Turian meds," Lucy said. "Someone at Hospital Bravo put them in containers labeled as Dorei-specific meds."  
  
The news shocked Leo. "They did _what?_ But… the Dorei are levo-compatible like us, giving them Turian meds…"  
  
"Yeah." Lucy brought a container out. "And what's more, there was a murder at Bravo. Some poor woman got her face pummelled into bloody goo."  
  
The news rocked Leo to his core. Sabotage and murder? "An SS agent?"  
  
"Maybe? I don't know. We know they had them. But it just feels… off." She opened the container. Inside was her bolt wrench. Little clumps of dead skin cells were still visible on the inner rim. She reached further in and pulled out a silk cloth to lay flat on the table. Clumps of dried blood were visible on it. "We got genetic samples from the body. I mean, these will work right?"  
  
"They might." Leo lifted his left arm and activated his omnitool. "I'll see if my scanner can get a good gene print off of them." At a touch of a key the scanner activated. Waves of blue light ran over both samples. The omnitool screen appeared and showed a partial genetic profile forming. "The blood's degraded, but with the skin cells to confirm…" A nearly-complete helix formed on his screen. "There it is. An intact genetic profile." He used his hands to manipulate a hard-light control that emerged from the omnitool in mid-air under his hands. "I'm accessing our database now. Let's see if we can…"  
  
A result popped up. Leo's jaw dropped open in utter shock.  
  
Lucy moved up beside him and read the result.  
  
_Profile Match: Doctor Amelia Indira Lang, Force Commander, FWLM._  
  
Leo's finger was already hitting his comm key. "Gillam to Security! This is an emergency, find and detain Doctor Lang _now!_ She's an imposter!"  
  
  
  
  
There were people that Specialist Kevin Lewis wanted to shoot. At least sometimes. The annoying neighbor who ratted him out on his stash of porn vids when he was growing up. The kid at school who punched his lights out. The asshole recruiter who told him that the mercenary life was far more exciting than normal military service in the AFFC.  
  
That's how a kid from a medium-sized city on Grosvenor, a boring planet in the Federated Commonwealth's Crucis March where there was nothing of interest to the Inner Sphere or the Multiverse as a whole, wound up in Rawling's Raiders, a small-time merc outfit that was supposed to specialize in anti-pirate defense for the Periphery. Lewis had imagined seeing amazing Periphery locales, exotic lovers, and all the other things the frontier was supposed to be.  
  
But instead, his first assignment was to the contract with the Free Worlds League to work in Universe S4W8, protecting Coalition facilities in League-held areas. That meant fighting Nazis, who were even more terrifying than the Clans with their hulking power-armored troops, and being bored in damned field hospitals. He was responsible for the locals' "civilian" exit overlooking their vehicle park and mass transit pick-up location, checking IDs and making sure only authorized locals were coming in.  
  
A moment of excitement came when Mister Taylor, in charge of security for the hospital, had called for a security alert. They were ordered to detain Doctor Lang, if found, as a suspected imposter. Maybe, if he was lucky, Lang would try to get through _his_ door, and Lewis would get to do something useful! And maybe even get a bonus from the capture to boot!  
  
Instead, all he saw that night was a beautiful nurse walk up to him. She was Caucasian, with beautiful blue eyes and long dark hair and a body to die for. Lewis was certain she couldn't be a local.  
  
She wasn't alone though. She was pushing a bed. The man on it was one Lewis knew he'd seen before, a local. He was unconscious, or maybe just sleeping.  
  
She smiled at him. "I'm just taking Mister Faqin out to his vehicle. He had a bad day. I'll bring the bed back later."  
  
Lewis almost agreed, but he knew he'd be in deep shit if he did. "We're on the lookout for someone, ma'am, I'm afraid I have to have the bed examined."  
  
"I already had it secured by a doctor," she answered. "The holographic one. Here, let me." She looked to the side. "Computer, please activate Emergency Medical Hologram."  
  
The bald-headed man in the Starfleet uniform appeared beside her. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."  
  
"I need to get this poor man to his vehicle, we need the bed," the nurse said sweetly. "And you already scanned him. But the guard didn't see it."  
  
The EMH rolled his eyes. "What is it with you people and calling me for… never mind." He let out a frustrated breath before activating a specialized omnitool that formed over his hand, integrated by Zimmerman into the EMH program. "It looks like this fellow exhausted himself by working too hard. Wake him up and send him home. I recommend he be relieved of duty for at least twenty-four hours." The EMH glared at her and then Lewis. "There, is that it? Or do you have another mundane, decidedly non-emergency task for me to handle?"  
  
"Uh, no Doc," Lewis said. "Nothing at all."  
  
"Fine. Thank you and have a wonderful evening."  
  
"Disengage hologram," the nurse said. The EMH vanished.  
  
"Alright ma'am." Lewis nodded. "You're good to go."  
  
The nurse smiled at him and pushed the bed out.  
  
But contrary to what she said, it didn't come back. Nor did she.  
  
  
  
It was late when Leo finally saw Doctor Crusher again, in the doctors' watch station between the Standard and Critical Care Wards. "Well, it's been a busy day."  
  
Leo nodded. Before he could speak a distant thunderclap sounded. The fighting was still roaring on close by. "A very busy day."  
  
"I saw that our patient woke up."  
  
"Yeah." Leo nodded. "Her name is Zahra Mercier."  
  
For a moment, there was silence between the two physicians.  
  
"It's odd," Leo said, breaking the silence. He gave a thoughtful look toward Crusher. "Medical ethics, I mean. I was in the wrong, but I was right."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
A dull thump of a headache caused Leo to press his forefinger and thumb against his temples and massage his forehead. "You were right about that surgery. By every principle of triage, I should have quit. Zahra's survival was a one in five shot at best. Her system barely handled even five ccs of the dizaproregene and that didn't even fully heal her lungs. All of that effort would have been wasted. While we were needed on the Triage floor. And when we don't even know when, or if, we'll get re-supplied." Leo shook his head. "I made the wrong decision."  
  
"Maybe from a triage stand-point," Crusher said. "But the fact is that if I'd ordered you to stop, our patient would be dead right now." There was something in her voice, a measure of realization, and pain to go with it.  
  
"We were both wrong. And both right. But maybe you were more right than I was." Leo tapped his finger on the desk. "All of that time we were in the OR, saving someone who was likely to die, there were how many patients coming into Triage? Those are people who may have died because help didn't get to them in time. All because we were busy saving one life."  
  
"The life of a child."  
  
"I know. But under medical ethics, is that more important than the lives of adults?"  
  
"I…" Crusher stopped. "I suppose some people would say yes. That children are the future. But I don't want to go down that road of deciding whose life is more important."  
  
"Me neither."  
  
There was another few moments of contemplative silence between the two. "Maybe the important thing is that we don't know these answers," Leo said. "We have to know that we might be wrong. If we start thinking everything we do is right, well…"  
  
He let the sentence hang so Crusher could complete the thought. "...we lose sight of our limitations. And we start thinking we have the right to make tough choices without thinking about them."  
  
"Yeah." Leo rubbed at his eyes. After all of this he just wanted to get some sleep.  
  
His omnitool flashed into existence, at least in part, forming the light around his wrist and the back of his hand. With curiosity he pressed the light to open the channel.  
  
" _Attention all Hospital personnel, prepare for immediate evacuation. I repeat, prepare for evacuation._ "  
  
"What?" Crusher stood. "Evacuation? To where?"  
  
Leo's omnitool registered a second communication coming in, and the voice he heard brought a smile to his face.  
  
"Aurora _to Gillam_ ," said Jarod. " _Hold tight. We're on our way._ "  
  
  
  
  
The _Aurora_ dropped out of warp nearly within weapons range of the _Baldur von Schirach_ and her battlegroup of warships. In the seconds afterward, a number of other ships dropped out of warp around her. Four _Predator_ -class destroyers, a _Scorpio_ -class attack cruiser, and two _Trigger_ -class attack ships led by the _Koenig_ came in with the first wave.  
  
"Enemy warships are responding to our arrival." Caterina kept her eyes on sensors. "They're getting ready to fire."  
  
"Hit first," Robert ordered.  
  
Angel answered with a gleeful "Yes sir" even as she triggered the forward weapons.  
  
The _Aurora_ and her fellow ships launched into an immediate attack that pummeled the nearest enemy ships. The _Sedan-_ class cruiser Angel targeted retorted with disruptor fire that drained their shields even as their weapons pummeled away at the enemy cruiser. Solar torpedoes blasted the swastika insignia on its bow, turning it into debris and wreckage.  
  
The _Koenig_ , leading the formation of _Trigger_ -class ships that resembled her so closely, went in phasers blazing. Multiple heavy phaser cannon shots took down the shields of the enemy cruiser and allowed the attack ships' torpedoes to gut the ship.  
  
The arrival of the _Aurora_ attracted the attention of the _Schirach_. The SS-crewed dreadnought was already turning to bring its terrible battery of spinal mount super-disruptors to bear.  
  
Which is exactly what Robert and the others planned. "Send the signal to the others," Julia ordered, while Robert waited in quiet patience. This was one part of this return mission that couldn't be left to chance.  
  
Thankfully, it hadn't been.  
  
Within moments of the signal, another surge of radiation flooded the sensors of every ship in the system. And Robert and the others watched in satisfaction as the _Starship Lexington_ dropped out of warp.  
  
And like them, she hadn't come alone.  
  
Not even a moment later two _Excelsior_ -class starships, marked as the _Charleston_ and the _Lakota_ , came out of warp beside the _Lexington_. Not to be outdone, a pair of _Saber_ -class ships also arrived, as well as an older _Miranda_ -class and a new _Intrepid_ -class called the _Stargazer_. And, last but definitely not least, two large _Galaxy_ -class starships warped in.  
  
" _This is Captain Higginbotham_ ," said a voice, coming from the _Galaxy_ -class _Madison_. " _Focus fire on the enemy dreadnought_."  
  
"Let's do the same, Angel," Robert said.  
  
The first super-disruptor shot was already firing, hitting the _Aurora_ directly. Jarod quickly checked their shield effectiveness status. "Shields down to sixty-eight percent."  
  
The _Schirach_ had gotten in the hit, but it was soon evident that she was in trouble. Not only was the _Aurora_ 's powerful bow array of pulse plasma cannons and phaser weapons tearing away at her, but the entire Starfleet task force that Captain Ben Zoma had called in were coming right for the SS dreadnought. Amber beams of phaser fire from the various ships all struck against the crimson shields protecting the giant ship. The combined firepower of the several Federation starships got the shields down low enough that the SS ship's hull took several direct impacts from photon torpedoes.  
  
Disruptor shots retaliated against the Federation strike group, both from the _Schirach_ and from her escorts, under fire from _Aurora_ 's escorting ships. The space around New Brittany was lit up with the amber and emerald streaks of phaser and disruptor fire, accentuated by the powerful pulses of azure energy that erupted from _Aurora_ 's main battery and the main battery on the _Scorpio_ -class cruiser, even now savagely tearing into a burning _Dresden_ -class Nazi cruiser.  
  
A missile from the _Schirach_ blasted the nacelle off of one of the _Saber_ -class ships. Another caused hull and system damage to one of the Alliance _Predator_ -class destroyers. Much of the _Schirach_ 's fury was still bent on the _Aurora_ , which took another super-disruptor hit. "Shields down to forty percent."  
  
"I'm maintaining evasive maneuvers," Locarno added.  
  
The dreadnought didn't get a chance to fire its spinal mounts at the _Aurora_ again, as Locarno's maneuvering put it out of the firing arc. The _Koenig_ and two of the other attack ships came in on the bow of the enemy dreadnought with phasers and torpedoes blazing. With the _Idaho_ \- one of the two _Galaxy_ -class ships - blazing away with phasers and disrupting the dreadnought's forward shields, the _Koenig_ and her cousins were able to batter through them enough for their solar torpedoes to make direct impact on the emitters before they could fire again. An explosion consumed the open ports in the bow of the great enemy dreadnought.  
  
"I'm picking up power surges," Cat said. "I think they're going to warp."  
  
A moment later that prediction was confirmed. The _Schirach_ , and the three surviving ships with her battle group, disappeared in flashes of bright light.  
  
"Stand down from combat, running status Code Yellow."  
  
"I've already received the confirmation from General Chaganam," Julia added. "They're getting ready to evacuate."  
  
"Signal the other ships. Use light fire, keep the enemy pinned down so their troops can disengage. Jarod?"  
  
"I've already sent the signal," Jarod confirmed. Moments later interuniversal jump points began to form on the screen. DropShips from Universe F1S1, troop transports of Alliance build, and a Turian regimental-sized troop carrier emerged from the points. Another series of points brought in a series of hospital ships and passenger vessels converted to provide the same. "Leo's signalling."  
  
"Put him on."  
  
Leo appeared on the holo-viewer. He was sitting at a doctor's watch station. " _Hey_ ," he said. " _Nice timing_."  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
" _I've got news. Some of it bad. Even scary. But what's this about an evacuation?_ "  
  
"We're doing this on a tight timetable," Robert replied. "The Reich's sending reinforcements to take and hold New Brittany. We don't have the ships or manpower to hold this planet and the others. The Coalition Command decided to write New Brittany off, but they let us bring in ships to evac the troops and hospitals. The _Epaminondas_ and her battle group are following us in to cover the withdrawal."  
  
" _And what about the people? Rob, some of these folks worked with us, if the SS get wind of it_ …"  
  
"General Chaganam is already sending out a public signal, anyone who worked with our occupation forces is getting a free ticket off-world," Robert answered. He was frowning a little. "It's the best we can do. Maybe when we start getting Inner Sphere ships ready for this war, or we get the Clans participating, we can come back. But right now…"  
  
" _Yeah. I get it. Triage_." Leo sighed.  
  
"You said you had news," Julia said. "What did you mean?"  
  
" _Some things have happened while you were away. Lucy and I will share them with you when we get back to the_ Aurora _, but right now I'm going to join Doctor Crusher in getting our patients ready for the evacuation. I'll see you when I get back up there. Gillam out_."  
  
After Leo disappeared, Julia gave Robert a concerned look. "What do you think he meant by that?"  
  
Robert didn't immediately reply. But there was no denying the sick feeling he had that something was going on, something bad. "I don't know," he said. "But we'll just have to find out. Go ahead and secure us for evacuation work. Cat?"  
  
Caterina already knew what he would be asking about. "We've got the Reich force on long range probes. At their current warp velocity I think we have about ten, eleven hours."  
  
"The _Epaminondas_ is still thirty minutes out, but we should be able to complete the evacuation within ten hours with their help," Jarod added.  
  
"Alright. Let's get this evacuation going, then. And this time, we're not leaving _anyone_ behind."  
  
  
  
**Tag**  
  
Leo and Lucy delivered their news to the others. They added the recorded visuals from the hospital. The response was complete quiet.  
  
"I don't believe it," Robert mumbled, looking at the image on the conference room holotable. "Fassbinder's alive."  
  
"Are you sure this isn't a clone?" Julia asked.  
  
"He looked like the original to me."  
  
"And moved like him," Lucy added. "And that's not the worst part."  
  
"He has _swevyra_ ," Robert mumbled. "Probably learned how to access it by watching us."  
  
"Given his behavior before, and his ideology, he will certainly fall." Meridina shook her head in disbelief. "Reich _swevyra'kse_. They will be far more dangerous if this becomes widespread."  
  
"That's still not the worst part," Lucy insisted. "He's not an _Obersturm_ -whatever-it-was anymore. He's something called a ' _Standartenführer_.' That's the _highest_ rank we've seen him have. He didn't even have that on Gamma Piratus."  
  
"Wait. That doesn't make sense," Angel said. "We _beat_ him. We kicked his ass out of the Facility after killing all of his guys. Why the hell would the Nazis _promote_ that piece of crap?"  
  
"Unless th' scunners got somethin' from th' Facility," Scotty suggested.  
  
"I suppose it's possible." Jarod shook his head. "Maybe they got some data from the general system."  
  
"Whatever it was, this is big news, and we need to report it to Maran immediately." Robert tried to hold back the sick feeling in his stomach. "Was that all?"  
  
"I'm afraid not." With a nod from Leo, Lucy brought up the information from the dead body in Bravo. "Someone attempted to pass off Turian dextro-compatible medications as Dorei-specific. And they murdered Dr. Lang in the process."  
  
"The evacuation is still on, but there's been no sign of the imposter Lang for hours," added Leo. "So whoever it was got away."  
  
"Well, it's probable the SS had agents from the local population infiltrate the hospitals."  
  
"I'm… I don't feel like that's the answer," Lucy said to Jarod. "There's something more to it than that. A local Nazi spy killing just one doctor and swapping medical labels? I mean, maybe, but it feels like they would do something bigger if they were moving toward active sabotage. Something that hurts us immediately and directly. Faking a pharmaceutical mix-up would cause strain in the Coalition, yeah, but hardly worth the effort if you're an SS or military intel agent."  
  
"Yet it is sabotage that might be done without being directly detected, if done right," Meridina pointed out. "At a low enough risk to the agent, it becomes worthwhile."  
  
"Maybe… but I still don't buy it. It doesn't… I don't feel like that's the answer here. It's just too subtle and it lacks the immediate payoff."  
  
"Nazi spy or not, why did they leave Lang's body in Hospital Bravo?" Julia asked. "If Bravo hadn't been evacuated, the body would have been found."  
  
"I think I have the answer to that," said Leo. "Lang was responsible for moving the pharmaceuticals. She would have realized the switch happened. Given her authority and access to records, she might have even figured out who. Killing her buys time for the saboteur, and by replacing her the saboteur got a chance to try something else. They probably figured the Nazis would sweep the vault and deal with the remains. And maybe they figured we would never risk sending anyone back."  
  
"Either way, that's another matter for Admiral Maran to take up." Robert stood. "The evacuation of New Brittany will be complete within the next four hours. We'll be getting out of here with an hour to spare before the Reich reinforcements show up. Let's keep everyone on alert for now… with two exceptions." He looked to Leo and Lucy. "You two need a break. I'm relieving you of duty for the next 48 hours."  
  
"You won't get any complaints from me," Lucy answered.  
  
"If you don't mind, Rob, I have a couple things to check on in the medbay," Leo said. "But I'll stay off-duty while I'm at it."  
  
"Excellent." Robert smiled and nodded. "Enjoy your two days off."  
  
"Or we shall be forced to take drastic measures, I suspect," Meridina added, giving Lucy a bemused look.  
  
"Oh? As in?"  
  
"We'll sic Julia on you," Robert clarified.  
  
"Like I'm not even in the room…"  
  
After Julia's _sotto voce_ remark, the assembled filed out of the room. All except Robert, who looked back down at the planet.  
  
"I sense your discomfort," said Meridina, who was now standing beside him. "It is Fassbinder, isn't it?"  
  
"I've seen him in my dreams, Meridina," Robert admitted. "I've seen him with golden eyes and vicious power. And now… now it turns out he _is_ alive, and that he's learning how to use it."  
  
"Yes. I am worried. But not too worried." Meridina looked at him. "Without a being to guide him in learning how to connect to his _swevyra_ , his efforts will be… like a child left to learn how to walk, how to feel and speak, without any guidance. He will not pose a horrible threat."  
  
"I hope you're right." Robert looked down at the planet. "I just wish I could sense where he was. What he was doing here, and why he has the SS after the _Aurora_."  
  
"Give it time…"  
  
Meridina left him to his thoughts at that point, and Robert spent the time looking out the window again. Questions assailed his mind. What was Fassbinder up to? How did he get promoted for failing to take the Facility on Gamma Piratus?  
  
_What is going on here?_  
  
As there was no answer forthcoming, Robert eventually left the conference room.  
  
  
  
  
Fassbinder woke up in a locale he found familiar. He had seen it in video images for a few weeks now: the basement of Andre Faqin's home. The SS officer sat up in confusion. Faqin remained asleep, and utterly still, across from him.  
  
"Congratulations," a woman's voice said. "The Alliance and its allies are withdrawing. Your people have reclaimed the planet."  
  
Fassbinder turned and faced the woman in question. She was wearing a sleeveless blouse and slacks that made her look very casual and hid none of her physical beauty. At first Fassbinder didn't know who she was save the familiarity of her face, but as he considered the face and made the appropriate changes, he let out a growl of anger. "You!" And he lunged for her.  
  
But he never reached her. The dark-haired woman reached up and out her hand and gripped him with... literally nothing. "You're rather ungrateful," said the woman. "I'm the only reason you got out of that Field Hospital alive. If I hadn't reprogrammed their holographic doctor to ignore you and slipped you out with Faqin, you would have been found."  
  
Fassbinder spat out curses in German. "You little _untermensch_! Brown bitch! Did you think you would go unrecognized by lightening your skin?! I remember you, Lucero!"  
  
The blue-eyed, dark-haired woman who, aside from flawless Caucasian skin tone, resembled Lucy Lucero completely cracked a grin. "I am not Lucero. Surely you can sense that, even with your poor grasp of your potential."  
  
Fassbinder forced himself to calm down for the moment. As he did, he could sense what she was saying and that it was, surprisingly, true. While she looked like Lucero, she didn't _feel_ like Lucero.  
  
"Go ahead and put our new friend down," a new voice said.  
  
The fake-Lucy did so. And then she stepped away and toward the nearby stairs, where a second female was stepping down. Fassbinder focused on her. She had pale blue eyes, long golden blond hair, and a body that was both beautiful and sensually displayed by the low-cut and tight red dress. "And that is what we are here to be, Fassbinder," the woman cooed. "Friends."  
  
Fassbinder looked at them intently. "Who, what are you?"  
  
"As I said. Friends."  
  
"Friends with mutual enemies," the fake Lucy added.  
  
Fassbinder considered that. He sensed the truth from the power growing within him. "You are enemies of the Alliance?"  
  
"Very much so," the gorgeous blonde said. "And it's taken us a lot of effort to get into position to approach you. And I do mean _you_ , _Standartenführer_ Fassbinder."  
  
"You have the Gift. The power of God. The means to further God's Plan."  
  
Fassbinder continued to look at each in turn. "And what does that mean. What do you want?"  
  
"To help you fulfill your potential, _Herr Standartenführer_ ," the fake Lucero said. "To train you to use your power to the fullest potential."  
  
"And to help you face our common foe," added the blonde. "The Alliance. And the crew of the _Starship Aurora_. They are impediments to the Plan."  
  
"And the keys to your future destiny."  
  
"Yes." Fassbinder nodded. "They are. They are all that." He thought on it a moment "And you wish to help me against them?"  
  
"As I said, they are our enemies. You are their enemies. So you should be our friends." The blond stepped forward and offered her hand. "We are the Cylons, and we offer you and your Reich our assistance in defeating the Alliance, the _Aurora_ , and any who stand opposed to God's Plan."  
  
Fassbinder considered it for a moment. Slowly, a grin formed on his face.  
  
He extended his hand as well. "Your offer is accepted," he said. "Let our enemies tremble."  
  
  
  
  
When Leo arrived in the medbay he went to his office. It was only when he got into his chair that Doctor Singh appeared, a disapproving scowl on the New Punjabi woman's face. "You should be resting," she said. "You've done enough."  
  
Leo smiled at her and held up a hand in surrender. "I'm not here to run a shift or make rounds, I'm just going to check a few things before I go to my quarters for the night."  
  
Singh gave him a look that spoke of her disbelief. "If you're not out of the medbay in an hour, I'm going to personally drag you out," she threatened jokingly, or rather half-jokingly.  
  
"That won't be necessary, I promise." Leo pointed to the clock on the wall. "But just to be clear, I'm not counting the hour as starting until we're done here."  
  
Singh shook her head and walked out.  
  
With that done, Leo patched into the _Aurora_ 's communications system and sent a hail through the Coalition network to a colleague. After several seconds Doctor Crusher appeared on the screen, sitting at a desk of her own. "I see they hauled you up too," he remarked.  
  
" _Admiral McCoy's orders_ ," Crusher answered. " _I'm on the_ Lexington _right now. Captain Ben Zoma and Captain Amundsen of the_ Charleston _were crew on the old_ Stargazer _with my late husband, so we're going to do some catching up."_  
  
"Sounds good to me." Leo nodded. "It's been a hell of a week, hasn't it?"  
  
" _Yes, it has_ ," she agreed. " _Have you settled back in?_ "  
  
"I've been ordered off-duty for the next two days and they're threatening to toss me out of medbay if I stay too long," Leo answered, chuckling afterward. "So yeah, I am."  
  
" _That's good to hear_." After a moment Crusher nodded at him, an appreciative gesture. " _It was good working with you, Doctor Gillam. Hopefully we can meet again in a less stressful environment. Perhaps the Second Multiversal Medical Symposium that's going to be held on Betazed in four months?_ "  
  
"Sounds interesting," Leo admitted. "I'll see if I can make it."  
  
" _I look forward to introducing you to some of my Starfleet colleagues. In the meantime, I wish you and the_ Aurora _the best of luck. Crusher out._ "  
  
"Good luck to you too," Leo managed, just before Crusher ended the call. He sighed and took a look at the backlog of paperwork. The sight made him wince. He was going to be spending a lot of time clearing that backlog.  
  
But not tonight. Tonight he had once last stop before he let Singh chase him from the medbay. He left his office and went to the urgent care area, where some of the cases from Charlie were being kept.  
  
Zahra Mercier was in a bed looking very surprised, and thrilled, at the advanced technology of the _Aurora_. He walked up to her bed. "Hey."  
  
"Hello." Zahra looked at him. "I am getting better?"  
  
"Slowly but surely. You'll be heading to a survivor hospital until you're strong enough for outpatient care." Leo pulled up a chair and sat beside her. "You may still need a surgery or two to deal with the problems inside of your body. And you'll definitely need weeks of monitored food intake to recover from your near-starvation."  
  
"I think I understand." Zahra frowned. "But where will I go? My family is dead. I can never go back home…"  
  
"I've already marked a contact in your file. Doctor Pierre N'Djehoya. He's a friend of mine from New Liberty, and when the hospital doctors say you're fit to leave, he'll be contacted to bring you home." Leo took her hand. "On New Liberty you'll meet kids your age, from all sorts of ethnic and national groups. You'll get an education."  
  
"And then your people, your State, will decide what I will do?"  
  
"No." Leo shook his head. " _You_ decide what you'll do with your life. You'll decide who you marry, or even if you'll marry. If you have kids. What you'll do. That's all for you."  
  
Zahra nodded. A distant, sad look filled her eyes. "But I'll still be alone. My family is gone."  
  
"That's the thing about New Liberty," Leo answered. "A lot of people there are like you. They lost loved ones to the Nazis, or people like them. They know what it feels like. And they'll be there for you. And your family…" Leo tapped his heart. "They're still there. They're with you right now. You'll remember them. And that means they'll _never_ be truly gone. That's something the Nazis will never take from you."  
  
For a moment she didn't respond. And Leo didn't blame her. He knew the pain she was in. The shock of loss. And the suffering of what the Reich had done to her and those she loved. He just hoped she would recognize what he was saying was true.  
  
And given the small smile that appeared on her face, it looked like she did.  
  
And that, for Leo, made everything they had gone through worthwhile.


End file.
